Akatsuki Puppies
by bonegeisha
Summary: The Akatsuki are undercover in Konoha, hiding in plain sight, using a dated jutsu. Only problem is, they've been picked up by some unsuspecting ninjas. Now they've got to keep their cover and try not to kill the girls housing them. -OCs -FTLOLZ
1. Adoption

_~~**~~Right, so here's a second Akatsuki story Nikkias and I did together. I started this one on my own, but when I read this first bit to her she fell in love and began contributing ideas, I just put them into words lol Even though it contains the same OCs, this story happens completely separate from "Akatsuki House of OC". And yes, the Akatsuki puppies are adorable, if I do say so myself. But, again with this story, we've abandoned it in pursuit of bigger and better things lol So, I'm only going back and editing what little I can without overhauling the entire story. Characters may be a little OC, some facts may be wrong, and so on and so on, but I had to leave alot of that to keep the original story in tact. And no, I don't own the Akatsuki or any related "Naruto" characters, their rightful owners and creators do. I'm just torturing them by putting them in silly settings XD~~**~~  
_

"Unexpected Findings"

"So, I'm thinking we do yakisoba for dinner tonight." Hotaru turned and smiled at Nikoru who thought about it, then nodded her head with a beam.

"I think I can do that! What flavor do you want?" She readjusted the grocery bags in her hands and Hotaru shifted hers around too.

"I'm not really sure…I don't even know if I want yakisoba…What if we do okonomiaki?" She bit her lip and looked up at the winter sky, shivering a little and settling her lower face deeper into her thick scarf.

"No, no, that makes me think of summer. I don't want a summer food in the winter." Nikoru shook her head, the pom-pom on top of her snow cap bobbling around to reiterate her point.

"Alright…well, what about we go out and get ramen instead of cooking at all?" Hotaru laughed as Nikoru bounced around excitedly, almost spilling her groceries.

"That sounds fantastic! Always up for that!" She giggled as they got to their apartment and Hotaru opened the door with a full hand.

They put the groceries away and bundled up again, Hotaru making sure Nikoru covered her face well with her scarf and her hat was on tight enough. She couldn't have the girl getting sick. In all truth though the blonde was probably better suited to this weather with wind chakra coursing through her veins, a lot better than Hotaru and her fire chakra. "Alright, let's go. Maybe NaruNaru will be there." Hotaru opened the door and Nikoru smiled again, holding up pink gloved hands to catch at the snow that flurried in to greet them.

"We can't afford to feed him too tonight, though, Hotaru-chan. Groceries put us on a budget!" She smiled and took Hotaru's hand, making the brown haired girl nod her head and pull the petite blonde closer for warmth.

"I know, I know. I think we have enough to treat him to one bowl though…but, we don't even know if he's there or not." They both smiled and waved at Neji as he passed, carrying some firewood and a bag of groceries too. He nodded solemnly at them and kept going, barely passing them a glance. Everyone else had pretty much gotten off the streets for the night.

Just as they neared the ramen shop and the smell greeted their noses, Nikoru stopped dead in her tracks. Hotaru paused and glanced over her shoulder at her. "What is it, babe?" Nikoru held a hand up to her lips to silence her and Hotaru listened. That was when she heard it too. A puppy's yip. Hotaru began to glance around, worried that any animal out in this weather would die a horrible death.

"Where do you think it is? The poor thing!" Nikoru whimpered and bit at her gloved fingers, looking around quickly too. Hotaru pinpointed the sound and started towards the side of the building, but stopped when the tiny puppy came bouncing through the snow happily. "Awww, look, Hotaru-chan! It's so fuzzy and yellow!" Nikoru pointed to the puppy and it looked up at the sound, its floppy ears perking up quickly.

They all stared at each other for a moment before Nikoru leaned down and held out a hand, smiling. "Here, puppy…C'mere, boy…Who's a pretty puppy?" She cooed softly and the dog tilted its head, then yipped and bounced, then turned tail and ran back behind the ramen shop. Hotaru sighed and Nikoru got up, starting after it slowly, her boots crunching in the snow.

"Nik, I don't think it wants to go. Maybe it's owned by the ramen guy." Hotaru held out her hand, but her friend ignored her.

"Well, we should at least bring it back inside, we can't just leave it out here to freeze." And with that she slunk behind the building too. Hotaru shook her head and started after her, on quiet feet also.

'Hey! Hey, guys! Someone's coming, un!' The fuzzy blonde puppy ran as fast as his cold little feet could carry him. The safety of their box was calling out to him, but he could hear that human girl coming after him. 'Hide, un! Someone's coming!' A fuzzy red haired puppy stuck its head out from between the flaps of the box. It was tipped over on its side and there was soft yipping and rustling coming from inside it.

'Get in here then, brat! Told you it was too cold to go outside anyways.' The smaller dog barked lightly as the yellow one shoved past him and rolled into the box. The red head looked around with big brown eyes, then ducked back inside, just as the strangers came around the corner.

Nikoru stopped and saw the box, watching it jostle itself in the snow a little. Its corners were wet and soaked through and there was the little strip in between the closed flaps that let cold air inside. A light from a high back window in the ramen shop fell in slats over the little box and she smiled softly, glancing over her shoulder. "Hotaru-chan, I found the puppy! I think it lives in this little box!" She called out and Hotaru came around the corner, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at the box. They watched as the yellow puppy's head poked out of the box, then jerked back inside. The box got really still then, like it was hiding from them in plain sight.

Nikoru giggled and walked over, kneeling down beside the box and gently taking hold of the top flap, slowly peeling it back as Hotaru walked over to stand next to her. "It's okay, little guy. We're not going to hurt you. We just want to get you out of the cold." When she looked inside she gasped slightly, putting her free hand to her lips again. "Hotaru, it's a whole litter of puppies! The poor dears! Someone must've abandoned them!" Hotaru bent over, her hands now shoved deep into her pockets, and arched a brow as she peered into the box. Nine sets of multi-colored eyes stared back at her, furry little bodies shivering in the sudden cold.

"We can't keep them all…There's no way we can afford it." She shook her head, but Nikoru looked up at her with big eyes of her own.

"Oh, Hotaru, we can't just leave some of them and take some! We could at least keep them till we can adopt them all out." Hotaru thought about it, watched Nikoru give her the kicked puppy look, looked at all the sad and angry eyes staring at her from the box, then sighed heavily.

"Fine…Let's carry 'em home…I'll just make that yakisoba we mentioned earlier." Nikoru cheered and clapped, dropping the lid back down on the box, then gently turning it right side up. All the puppies inside jostled and shifted, rocking the box a little, all sorts of upset barks and scared yips coming from inside. She picked it up and smiled brightly.

"It's alright, guys, we're going somewhere really warm and comfy." She promised in a gentle voice and started towards home, Hotaru trudging behind.

It wasn't that Hotaru didn't like animals or feel bad for these. She did. She just didn't know how they were going to house nine puppies in their tiny little apartment, they could barely afford to feed each other as it was. They hadn't gotten so many missions lately, now that it was the winter time and coming closer and closer to Christmas. They probably would only get one or two between now and the beginning of next year. Which meant they were probably going to have to pick up part time jobs in between, which pissed her off; now they were certainly going to have to if they were going to feed their new family. She guessed it was alright though, she'd make signs and start putting them up tomorrow…hopefully the animals would be gone in a week or two.

When they got into the house Nikoru paused in the genkin, setting the box down on the raised flooring in front of her, so she could pull off her boots and put her coat and things in the closet next to her. Then she picked it up again and carried it into their tiny living room, sitting it down on the floor and sitting cross legged next to it. She was positively glowing she was so happy. Hotaru leaned against the wall as she unlaced her boots and watched her friend slowly peel back the box lids again. This time she leaned up a little and reached inside, pulling out the yellow puppy that had started this whole thing. It whined loudly as she gently lifted it into her lap and let go, stroking the top of its soft head.

"Don't worry, little guy! I'm not going to hurt any of you." She giggled again and reached inside the box once more, pulling out the red fuzzy puppy. It seemed a little calmer, but wriggled just a little in her grasp. As she put it on the floor it tumbled off her legs and began to sniff around, causing the yellow one to immediately start to wriggle and work its way out of her lap too. It ran for the red one, bumping into it from behind and falling on its butt. The red one turned around, shook its head, then started to sniff again, the yellow one now up and following it closely. Hotaru turned and put her coat and accessories in the closet, then turned back to look at her clean living room. Now there were eight puppies running around it.

There was a gray one, a black and white one, a chocolate brown one with black spots over its strange red and green eyes, an orange one with a black spot over its left eye, the yellow one, the red one, and one that was such an odd tint of gray it looked blue. They were all sniffing and running around, trying to figure out where to go and what to do and Nikoru was watching with clasped hands, beaming like a mother watching her children learn to walk. Hotaru walked over and looked inside the box, spotting a solid black puppy still lying in the corner.

"Why'd you leave this one behind?" She pointed to it and the dog looked up at her with red eyes. It seemed to be frowning deeply at her and looked very moody. She got the feeling she and this animal were NOT going to get along well.

"It wouldn't let me touch it. It growled every time I got near it, so I figured it'd come out when it wanted to." Nikoru shrugged and looked back at her lap as the orange one bounced over to her and began to nip playfully at her fingers. She giggled happily and picked it up, nuzzling noses with it, listening to it let out an excited squeal. Hotaru knelt by the box and continued staring at the moody dog, who stared right back at her. She reached a slow hand in, but the dog let out a low growl that vibrated its entire body. She smiled patiently and held the back of her hand out for it to sniff, which it did, but it snorted the smell out quickly, then turned and looked away.

She furrowed her brows again, "Alright, come on, dog. I want this box out of my living room, it's getting my floor wet." She reached for the animal, but it bared its teeth at her. She grabbed it by the throat and forced its head down to the bottom of the box, listening to it growl louder still. "You DON'T growl at me. I'M the dominant one here." She then grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and lifted it up, holding it in front of her face and staring it in the eyes again. It growled once more, but she let out her own growl, and pulled her lips back, showing him her teeth. It blinked, then huffed sulkily and looked away. She smiled and set it on the floor, patting its head patronizingly before it managed to slink off.

Hotaru turned and looked back at Nikoru, who was now petting the orange one and the bluish one. "I'll get started on dinner, make sure they don't pee on the floor. Why don't you lay some newspapers down for them till we can get leashes or something…we've gotta find a way to walk them." She took two steps and was standing at their stove, rising to her tip-toes to get something out of the pantry cabinet high above her. Nikoru nodded and got up, the two puppies following after her and nipping at her heels with playful yips. She was ecstatic.

'Foolish humans. She will learn the meaning of dominance.' The black puppy slunk over to the tiny love-seat and plopped down in front of it, making sure it had a clear shot for beneath the coffee table, just incase that stupid girl came over and tried to touch him again.

'It's not so bad…At least we're warm now.' He looked up with dull eyes, looking over the blue puppy as it came and sat beside him. The dog was huge and would be a giant of an animal when it got older.

'Yes, but we have to listen to them now. They think they're Leader now.' The black one settled its head on its paws with a heavy sigh.

'We do not care where we are...We're just hungry….' Its eyes lifted to watch the black and white puppy slink towards him beneath the coffee table, its teeth showing through the slow grin it was giving.

'Yeah, what do we do about food now? Will they feed us?' The other gray puppy wandered by, its head tilted as it curiously watched the blonde human lightly stomp her socked feet at the orange puppy, getting it riled up.

'Don't be stupid, of course they will.' The red puppy walked by also, the yellow one tailing behind it still, just like a little shadow.

'Do you mean we don't have to catch our own food, Sempai?' The yellow one yipped happily, pausing to wag its tail.

'What a hovel they're keeping us in...' The brown one shook its head and pawed the floor lightly.

'No, the humans will feed us now.' The black and white one smiled again, glancing over its shoulder at the brown haired girl who was starting make something on the stove.

'I am NOT a house pet.' The gray one grumbled, then stalked off in an angry manner, going to sulk in a corner that wasn't so crowded. The brown one decided to wander off with the gray one too, sitting next to it and chiding it for sulking.

'We'll be fine…Right, Sempai? They won't separate us, will they?' The blonde looked to the red, who shook its head in a doggy style shrug.

'That can't be foretold, brat.' It stated calmly and the yellow one laid down with its head beneath its paws, whimpering.

'I'm sure they won't. That would be stupid. They have enough room for all of us.' The blue one looked around with a satisfied look, figuring his answer was the best.

'He's right though, it can't be foretold. Humans don't think anything about separating pups.' The black one settled on that answer too, all the rest of them getting quite once more.

"I think my favorite one is the orange one, Hotaru." Nikoru grinned and carried the little orange puppy over under her arm. Hotaru glanced up from the food and glanced over the little dog.

"Wonder what's wrong with its eye…" She reached out and cupped the little animal's muzzle, gently running her thumb over the dog's eye. Its right eye was sealed closed, but there was no scarring to show that it had been made that way. Hotaru guessed it had been born with a bad eye. It shifted its head a little and it lifted a paw to her wrist, pawing at her till she pulled her hand away. It gave a happy little bark at her, its tail wagging against Nikoru's chest, and Hotaru shook her head with a small smile.

"I don't know, I was wondering that too…Do you think one of the others did it?" She looked back at the others that seemed to have gathered near the couch. Hotaru shrugged lightly, stirring the food on the stove.

"Maybe, maybe not. He seems to be fine though, no worries." She turned and started towards another cabinet, climbing onto the counter to reach the top shelf and get four bowls down. "I hope dogs can eat noodles." She figured they'd be fine for the night till they could get some dog food in the morning. She began spooning food into the bowls and Nikoru turned around, setting down the puppy and looking at the others.

"Can we name them?" She folded her arms over her chest, then took a bowl that Hotaru handed her.

"Nope, you'll get attached to them if you do." She carried two bowls over too, having handed Nikoru another bowl.

"Can we keep just one then?" She eyed the little orange one that was bouncing on top of the yellow one.

"I don't know, Nik, baby…We'll figure it all out later." Hotaru shook her head and sighed, kneeling down on the floor and setting the bowl down. "C'mon, guys, I've got some hot food for you." She held her bowl, waiting on the little animals to come over. They all sat up and looked over, but none of them moved from their spots. Finally the black one came over and started to sniff the bowl suspiciously. Hotaru lifted an eyebrow as she watched him turn his nose up at first. "Y'all eat this or starve." She commented and stood up, picking up her chopsticks and beginning to nibble at her own food.

Nikoru set the other bowl down, "There's another bowl over here, guys." The red one came over and sniffed that bowl. He slowly started to eat, the black one following suit at his own bowl. The blue one wandered over to the black one's bowl, then the black and white one, then the gray one. The orange one bounded over with the yellow one in tow, both getting shoved away from the black one's bowl so moving to the red one's, along with the brown one, who was the slowest to approach.

The girls stood and ate; watching to make sure all of them got enough food and didn't fight too much. When everyone was done eating Hotaru collected the bowls and started the sink up. Nikoru made sure there were enough newspapers put down and it was padded thick enough that it wouldn't go through to the flooring, then she sat down on the couch and pulled out a few scrolls and pins, beginning to read and take notes. She was trying to compose a book, and though it took up a lot of her free time, she seemed to be making a lot of progress on it. The puppies padded around and played with each other, still getting use to their new surroundings.

'She does seem to be the dominant one here.' The black one was sitting and studying Hotaru as she washed the dishes; oblivious to the puppies completely.

'She's human, you can't take her down; like this.' The blue one had walked over and was sitting next to the black one, towering over him.

'I'm not planning on that…' The black one muttered, turning and starting to walk towards the bedroom. The gray one ran over to them, skidding to a halt on the wood flooring and almost sliding into them.

'Never guess what I just found.' It grinned and the black one regarded it with bored eyes.

'Something REMOTELY interesting this time? Hopefully.' The blue one chuckled at the response and how the gray one's face fell.

'Of course it is! C'mere!' He turned and started to lead the way again, running into a corner in the bedroom. They followed after it to see the red one sitting in front of whatever they were supposed to see, like it was guarding the new found prize. The yellow one was bouncing around trying to get the red one's attention with a slew of questions about the prize, and the orange one had gotten on the bed and was looking down onto the picture with a wagging tail and happy barks.

'Found something good! Found something good! Not just girls after all!' The orange one cried out happily. The red one stepped aside to let the black one look at what it was. The closet had been left open and they were staring at something tossed on the floor of it. The black one raised its brows in some surprise.

'Weapon packs…Do you think they're ninjas?' The blue one tilted its head a little as it regarded the blue and black packs.

'Not good ones. Everyone knows women don't make good ninjas. Especially ones like these…They look like the LAST people in the world to be ninjas.' The red one commented and the yellow nodded quickly, its blue eyes sparkling wildly.

'Sempai's right! Women only get in the way on the battle field!' The orange one cackled along with the yellow one. The blue one got up and nosed the packs, pawing one open to reveal sharpened kunais. He stepped back to allow the black one to see what it had discovered.

'We may have to watch them.' It commented and the black one nodded.

'Come, they'll notice we're missing. Leave the weapons, for all we know they may only be something kept from a dead friend. For now we watch and wait.' It muttered and they all nodded, moving to explore the newest room some more.

Hotaru turned to look at Nikoru, yawning and stretching. "I'm going to bed, babe. My feet hurt bad and so does my head." She stood up off the couch and brushed her dress off. Nikoru nodded slowly, scribbling something down, then blinked and looked up at her, brushing hair out of her eyes.

"I'll be there in a minute. You know…we should probably get a house with two bedrooms." She giggled lightly, but knew that would never happen. They didn't like the idea of being separated…not after they spent so long apart. Hotaru walked into the bedroom and stretched again, finding that she almost tripped over three or four of the puppies.

"Seriously, guys? Seriously? Move." She nudged the blue one with her foot and he bumbled out of the way as she tugged her shirt off. She stripped down to her panties and climbed into her bed, snuggling in and smiling happily.

Nikoru eventually got up and put her work things away, walking into the bedroom and smiling at Hotaru's dozing form. She stripped down too, checked on the puppies, and gathered up the orange one. "Do you want to sleep with me, buddy?" The puppy licked her nose and wagged his tail, making her smile as she climbed under the covers. All the other puppies were running around still, but she left the sliding door open so they could get to their newspaper if they needed to. "Night, guys. We'll figure out where things are gonna go tomorrow." She yawned and settled in.

As the house got quiet, the puppies began to settle in, the sleeping forms of the female's lulling them into serene calm like they hadn't felt in a while. The orange one slept beneath Nikoru's arm all night long, kicking and rolling just as much as she did. The yellow one started to get sleepy first, so the red one jumped onto Nikoru's bed, padding around at the end of the bed till it managed to curl up. The yellow one smiled happily and flopped down on top of the red one basically and yawned. All of them settled in eventually and the house got as quiet as it normally was. The black one was the only one left sitting in the doorway and watching everyone sleep. The blue one lifted its head off its paws and looked down at the black one from the foot of Hotaru's bed. 'Not sleepy?' The black one shook its head in solemn response.

'I'm not getting attached to these humans. Especially THAT one. She's the one that wants to sell us.' He seemed a little miffed, but was as calm as normal.

'Might as well sleep somewhere comfortable while you can.' The blue one offered, settling its head back down. The black one shook its head again, stubbornly.

'I'm not doing it.' Then he settled down on the floor. It wasn't right, to take them in from their box and then split them up. It wasn't right at all. Matter of factly it was wrong, and he was going to bite the girls if they dared to touch them to separate them.


	2. Getting Information

_~~**~~Since we never really put that much thought into this story, not as much as "Akatsuki House of OC" at least, there are ALOT of time jumps. I went back and did my best to piece them together as well as I could, but, suffice it to say, there are still gaps. This piece actually coordinates with the first one pretty well, not skipping to much time, but my guess is it's been a day or two since the girls have taken the dogs in. Other than that, this piece didn't have much wrong with it or much to explain. Other than the fact that the puppies are adorable lol~~**~~_

"Information"

Hotaru turned from the stove to find some of the puppies fighting in their bedroom. She frowned, noticing they were growling and biting at each other, some seemed to be protecting, the others seemed to be antagonizing. "Hey...Hey! Break it up over there!" She walked over, clapping her hands loudly and Nikoru looked up from her spot on the couch.

"What is it, Hotaru-chan?" She tilted her head, watching Hotaru shove the blue and brown dogs away from the blonde and red one.

"I don't know, they're fighting for some reason. Stupid mutts." She flicked the blonde one on the forehead to get him to stop growling, then got off her knees and turned back around.

Nikoru continued to watch the puppies she had just left behind. Her brow furrowed, then she leaned forward to see better. "Hotaru...Hotaru, get him!" She jumped up and Hotaru looked at her in confusion, then spun around, but it was already too late. The little orange puppy had been on Hotaru's bed, half way on top of the nightstand between the two beds. He had been tugging at something and now had taken a big fall, knocking all sorts of junk over on himself.

Hotaru groaned and walked back over, Nikoru got up and walked over too. They shoved papers off the yelping puppy, Nikoru smiling and shaking her head as she did. "You just had to make a mess, didn't you, buddy?" She giggled as he grinned up at her, his little tongue lolling out of his mouth and his tail wagging wildly. He yipped and bounced, then took to shoving his nose under some of the papers, sniffing for something. Hotaru grumbled as she cleaned up the mess, having been intending to clean off the nightstand anyways-just not under these kinds of circumstances. Nikoru frowned and pet the top of the happy, but intent, dog's head. "What is it, little guy? What'd you find?" She figured maybe one of them had left a piece of food on the dresser or something and he had discovered it. Hotaru was really bad about leaving candy and candy wrappers all over the place.

The little dog found what it was looking for, beneath a stack of drawings it had knocked over, and grabbed a corner of it in his mouth. He started to growl, leaning down low to the floor and tugging at it with all his strength. Hotaru glanced over, "Oh would you stop it? There's nothing here you should be biting at." She popped him on the head, but the little dog growled all the harder, simply moving to the side and tugging again. Finally he tugged what he wanted out, rolling backwards as it gave sharply. Nikoru frowned again, glancing down to see what the animal had found, then putting a hand over her mouth.

The puppy looked up at her excitedly, wagging its tail and yipping once more, a paw resting on its newly conquered prey. Nikoru reached for it, but the little dog growled playfully at her, nipping at her fingers. "Come on...you don't need to be playing with that. Just give it to me, little guy." She tried to bat him away, but he started to attack her hand, stomping and tromping all over the item in question. "Stop it! Now, give it to me!" Nikoru spat, making Hotaru glance over with a lifted brow.

"What in the world does he have? What, is he eating chocolate or something?" She laughed and glance down at what the little dog was now chewing on with a quickly wagging tail. It glanced at her and beamed, letting out a muffled yap. Her eyes widened and she stared hard at the furry little animal, gripping down on the papers in her hands.

"Hotaru, I tried to stop him...He just doesn't understand. You have to remember, he's just an animal." Nikoru tried to pull the item from the dog again, but he growled at her once more. Hotaru's hand shot out and grabbed the dog by the throat, shoving his head into the floor, making both him and Nikoru cry out in shock and surprise.

"No! Do you understand me? NO!" She shook the dog a little, to prove her point, then shoved him harshly to the side. She snatched the item up before he could run back over to it and Nikoru grabbed him up before Hotaru could get any angrier. She watched her friend hold the headband in both hands, quivering slightly as she looked at it.

"Hotaru-chan...He didn't understand...He's just an animal." She murmured, stroking the puppy's head with her fingers. The animal seemed intent on Hotaru's reaction to what he had found though. Hotaru frowned deeply, pressing her lips into a thin, white line, then she looked quickly at Nikoru and the dog.

"Stupid mutt." She snarled, then got up and stormed through the glass door, slamming it shut behind herself. Nikoru watched the girl through the glass, sighing heavily and hugging the orange puppy close as she did.

"It's just something really important to her, little guy...She didn't mean anything. You have to understand...It's all she's got left...And this is the second person to do that to her." She watched Hotaru study the band again, watched her begin pacing back and forth while gripping the metal head plate, then she got up and walked into the living room with the puppy; leaving her friend alone to fight back her demons.

Tobi had known something was off about that headband. It had smelt like an Uchiha. The blood and sweat of an Uchiha had been soaked into that band for years. He knew the girl claimed to be an Uchiha, but he had never really seen anything to prove her words. And with the way she guarded the headband, he knew it wasn't hers. It belonged to a boy, and he could only guess which one. Itachi padded over, sitting down next to him at the bedroom's doorway, watching Hotaru through the glass doors across the room. He glanced at Tobi, then glanced back at Hotaru. 'What did you do to her?' Tobi glanced at the black dog, then went back to studying the girl's reaction to his find.

'Nothing...She's holding the headband of an Uchiha.' Itachi blinked and looked back at him, his tail beginning to drag over the floor with his thoughts.

'It isn't yours...' Itachi mumbled, dropping his eyes to look at the floor.

'No, and I know it's not yours. You still have yours.' Itachi nodded, sinking to the floor and putting his head between his paws. His eyes visibly softened when he knew the orange puppy wasn't looking. He knew who that headband belonged to. He had suspected it all along, but now he knew. The sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre; well, the only one he intended to leave alive, at least. Tobi looked down at him with a solemn eye, 'Do you know why she would have that? Do you know why she would be claiming to be an Uchiha?' Their was accusation in his tone. Itachi glared up at him with deep red eyes.

'No. I did not fail. I executed my mission perfectly.' There was a low growl building in the back of his throat as the orange dog stared down at him.

'I wouldn't say perfectly, Itachi. You weren't supposed to leave the boy, yet you did.' Itachi jumped up with a snarl, getting into Tobi's face and shoving a paw into his chest.

'I did as I was told! What I left behind is none of your concern! It will affect nothing of your plan! Do not accuse me falsely!' The orange dog remained calm and collected as Itachi slowly backed down, settling onto the floor again, looking off to the side and huffing deep breaths through his nose. For a moment there was nothing.

'Find out why she has the headband. Find out what has happened to the boy and why it means so much to her.' Itachi looked up, watching the orange animal turn and walk off towards Nikoru, who was humming and rummaging through the refrigerator. 'And...do it in a timely fashion. I want to know if my only threat is dead or not.' Itachi found himself growling and rising to his feet again, getting ready to rush the orange backside as it waddled away from him, but he got to Nikoru first. She beamed and picked him up, kissing his nose and setting him into her lap as she continued to search through the fridge for something, many of the others gathered around her talking to her and themselves.

Itachi dropped his bottom to the floor, sighing heavily and looking back at Hotaru through the door, noticing she had stopped her pacing. She was now seated just as heavily on the concrete steps in front of the door, holding her head in her hands and staring at the headband resting in her lap. He sat and watched her for another long moment, unsure of what to do or how to garner the information out of her...It would certainly take him getting closer to her to do it; he didn't like the thought of that very much either. Part of him wanted to tell Tobi to screw himself, but the other part of him wanted to know too. He wanted to know the whereabouts of his little brother...even if it was a grave.

After a long while of listening to Nikoru play with the others he got up and padded across the bedroom. Tiredly he sat in front of the door, staring at the girl's back in front of him; she was oblivious to him, as per usual. She had on a small skirt and shirt, he knew she had to be cold out there; wasn't it supposed to snow soon-again? He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Nikoru on her back on the floor, laughing as some of the puppies bounced all over her, biting at her clothing playfully as she rolled and giggled. Tobi glanced up at him, pausing long enough to motion him forward solemnly, then going back to being the key player in the game.

Itachi shook his head and looked back at the girl through the door. He wasn't good at getting to know people or letting people in...even if they didn't know he was a person. He reached a small paw up and began to paw at the glass, whimpering softly. Either Nikoru would notice and hopefully help him or Hotaru would turn around and open the door for him. She did turn around, looking tired and bothered. He gave her his best puppy look, causing her to double take in confusion, then snort and shake her head, waving him off and turning back around. This made Itachi glare in determination. He backed up a pace or two, then slammed his shoulder into the door, barking this time. Hotaru turned around and sighed, narrowing her eyes at him, but he stared back just as hard.

Finally she reached up and slid open the door a little. "What do you want? I'm not feeding you, get Nikoru to do it." She grumbled and got ready to shut the door again, but he wriggled out of it too fast. She glared and opened her mouth to say something, but he barked happily, then lay over her bare, little feet. She couldn't resist the warmth, he just knew it. She sat for a moment, then sighed again and shut the door behind her, wiggling her toes beneath his tummy. They were silent for a long time. She just sat there staring at the headband in her lap, barely breathing. He never looked up at her either, just kept his head on his paws and his eyes closed, hoping to put her more at ease. When he was just about to give up and go inside, he felt her take a deep, shaky breath.

"I wonder if there are such things...as happy endings in this world." She murmured, shifting the headband a little as she said it. Itachi blinked, but failed to look up at her. "He just...left...Just up and walked away. Like there was nothing wrong with it...Like he wasn't leaving behind his only family or loved ones...Like there weren't even ties to sever. He just left." She put a hand over her eyes and bit her lip. He felt her hold in a sob, her entire body shaking with the effort. He whined softly, trying to get her to think he sympathized with her, hoping she would move on if she thought she had an audience that she could trust. But, she was silent for another long moment.

Finally she gripped down hard on the metal headplate of the band, its edges cutting into her palm as she did. "All in search of that bastard! That stupid bastard that ruined everything! I don't know who to be angry at more, him or his fucking brother!" She cried out, throwing the headband viciously across the tiny courtyard, letting it clatter against the stone wall in front of them.

Itachi jerked his head up, watching the headband fall to rest facing him at an angle, looking very discarded and alone. He blinked, not having expected that reaction from her. She had seemed so distraught just a second ago. He slowly got up and walked over to the headband, putting a paw lightly on the plate, bending down to sniff it. There was a scratch running through the village symbol...Had his little brother followed farther in his footsteps than he had planned for him to?

He picked up the headband in his mouth, then turned and carried it back over to her, pawing at the tops of her feet and whimpering till she looked up at him. She blinked and looked into the red of his eyes, then looked at the item in his mouth. After a second she sighed and took it back from him, and he resumed his position over her feet. "Thankyou. You're right...I shouldn't of gotten angry. He only did what he thought was best. He's only trying to avenge us...He'll come back one day." She smiled lovingly at the head plate now, stroking the jagged scar running through its middle.

"NaruNaru thinks so too...He knows Sasuke as well as I do, if not better...Aren't we the ones who would know the most if he was coming back or not? Isn't our word to be trusted over any other?" She reached down and pet the top of his head as she said this, making him cock an ear back to listen to her even more. "He'll kill him...He'll kill him and come home. Won't he, boy?" She smiled, patting the top of his head lightly. "Of course he will. He loves me." She rose to her feet and he rose with her, thinking hard on what she had said as he padded into the house after her.

Was she deranged? She couldn't be another Uchiha survivor. He of all people would know that. And there was no way his little brother loved her; the boy was incapable of any emotions, just like him. "Thank you for listening, boy...It means alot." She looked down at him and smiled softly, making him look up at her and nod slowly, then stop to sit in the middle of the bedroom floor and watch her go up to Nikoru. She hugged the girl and kissed her cheek, telling her she was going out for a while and she would be back soon. Then she put on her coat and boots and things and walked out of the door, the others running to the door barking and scratching at it before running back to play with Nikoru.


	3. Meetings

"Meetings"

Tobi came over not too long after Hotaru left. The bedroom was getting dark, only a strip of it illuminated by the living room light through the partially open doors. Itachi was sitting mostly in shadows, still near the sliding glass door, still thinking. 'Won't you be missed by your precious girl?' Itachi grumbled, getting up and turning his back to the orange dog. Tobi stopped, sitting calmly behind him, patiently waiting before starting.

'Did she tell you what I need to know?' He was almost tempted not to tell him anything.

'He's alive...Apparently he's become a missing nin...' He murmured quietly, glancing in Tobi's direction as he spoke.

Tobi blinked in surprise before saying anything, then laughed. 'A missing nin? He's following in your footsteps, Itachi...It appears you made a monster.' He grinned, leaning forward on one paw as he antagonized the boy. Itachi started to growl deep in his belly again, never looking at the man. 'Tell me, why is she so attached to him? Does she continue to disillusion herself in thinking she is an Uchiha female?' Tobi sat up straight again, tilting his head as he spoke this.

After a while Itachi stopped growling, 'She still thinks she's an Uchiha survivor...And she thinks He is in love with her. She has convinced herself he will come back to her one day, due to his unwavering love for her.' He grumbled and looked at the floor as he listened to Tobi laugh aloud at this.

'Foolish girl! There are no survivors of the Uchiha clan tragedy! None except the boy who is now playing into my hands beautifully. He seems too foolish to be in love anyways.' Tobi waved the thought off, but grinned evilly as he spoke, already conniving and plotting against Sasuke. Itachi ignored the comment, knowing he was trying his best to rile him up again.

'She claimed another boy knows he will come back too...She says that she and this boy would know the best of all of them...I'm guessing they were squad members together and that is why she has the headband.' He glanced over his shoulder at the now shut closet, where the kunai packs were still lying.

'Doesn't matter. The boy won't return to this village, let alone her and whomever else she thinks he cares about.' Tobi waved this off too, plotting still, falling quieter and quieter as he did.

They sat in silence for a moment, then Tobi rose to his feet. 'Fine...Find more out when you can. See how he left, what happened when he did, and what the consequences are for him leaving.' Then he walked away, heading back to Nikoru as she called out for him and looked around for his furry orange body.

Itachi watched him go again, shaking his head and sighing, then jumping up onto Hotaru's bed and curling up at the foot of the mattress. He wasn't going to let him get his hands on his little brother. There would be no way. He had made the mistake of giving himself over...There would be no way he would give over his only family; the only thing that mattered in this world.

Hotaru smiled calmly at Nikoru as she giggled, trying to get the puppies off of her so she could sit down with her scrolls. The big blue dog bounded over to Hotaru and began tugging on the socks she had just put on. Nikoru grinned, "He's right, Hotaru-chan, you should play with us."She reached out and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. Hotaru glanced at her, then back at the puppy, wiggling her foot in his grasp and making him growl. She giggled softly, "It'll make you feel better...Maybe make you smile some again." Nikoru kept encouraging her, use to having to deal with her angsty dramatics every now and then.

"Yes...He would not want me to mourn every time his name was mentioned to me." She continued to smile, letting it grow slightly bigger as she playfully grasped the blue dog's head and shook it gently, getting him to growl and shake her sock, along with her foot.

The black and white one bounced over, yipping and jumping into her lap, putting paws against her chest lightly and biting at her nose and hair. She laughed, leaning back into the couch and grabbing onto the black and white one's body, growling at him while pressing her lips to his ear and moving her mouth, making like she was going to bite him. This worked both the animals into a frenzy, making her laugh even harder. Nikoru clapped happily, watching the three of them before the orange one began to tug at her sleeves and whimper, trying to get her to pay attention to him again. She beamed down at him, muffing the sides of his face and rubbing noses with him before releasing him to play tug-o-war with her sleeve.

A knock on the door startled them all, sending all of the dogs into a barking frenzy. Every last one of them, including Itachi, bounded from their spots to gather in the tiny genkan. They bumbled and stumbled over each other, pawing and bouncing at the door, all of them barking for whoever was on the other side to be let in or to go away. Hotaru sat up and glanced over at the commotion at the door, then glanced at Nikoru, who sat up and glanced at her too. "Now, I wonder who that could be..." She got up and Hotaru watched her, trying to call the dogs back over to her. The black and white one was the only one that she succeeded in moving for her friend.

Nikoru giggled and laughed, pushing a pathway through the ecstatic animals, then opening the door, very slowly. She peeked her head around the corner to see Naruto beaming at her and waving. "Hey, Nikoru-chan! What's up?" She smiled brightly.

"Oh, hey, Naruto! Come in, come in!" She stepped aside, shoving the dogs out of the way as she did. He slowly made his way in, a little nervously, and edged his way through the animals. "Come on, guys! Let Naruto in! He's our best friend!" She managed to shut the door behind Naruto, then turn to watch him try and pull off his sandals, having some trouble because the dogs were jumping on him and sniffing.

"Wh-where did they all come from?" He laughed a little, finally making his way into the space of the house, Nikoru following him.

"We found them behind the ramen shop. We're going to adopt them out...eventually." Hotaru sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair, glancing around at the dogs they had kept much longer than she expected. She guessed they grew on you after a while.

Naruto nodded and walked over to her, sitting on the couch next to her with a smile. "I just was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd drop by." He put a hand on her leg and she smiled, draping an arm over his shoulder and pulling him close, putting their foreheads together. The little black and white dog growled on her lap, suddenly biting at Naruto's hand. He pulled back in shock, quickly drawing his hand into his chest. "It bit me!" He stared at the growling dog and so did Hotaru. She grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and hoisted it into the air, glaring at it.

"No! Do you understand me? No!" She shook it a little and it whimpered, then bared its teeth at her. She turned it to face Naruto, "He's our closet friend! You treat him like one, you got it?" She shook it a little again, then turned it back to her. The dog seemed confused, it would whimper and look away, then glare at her and snarl. Finally she dropped it to the floor with a sigh of defeat, "I'll deal with you later." She grumbled, then got up and led Naruto over to the kitchen sink, sticking his hand under cold water. "I'm sorry, NaruNaru...That one's a little odd. I think his markings are the gods' way of telling everyone he's confused." She laughed softly and so did he, shaking his head as she tended to the little red mark the animal had made.

"It's fine, it's fine. No need to fuss. Just a mistake." He pulled his hand back and she smiled, turning off the water and handing him a cloth to wipe off with. "Have you named them yet?" He glanced around at all of them, but Nikoru walked over, shaking her head and holding the orange one beneath her arm. She was tapping her finger on the tip of its nose, making it whine and nip at her, causing her to giggle as its little tail wagged behind them.

"No...Hotaru-chan keeps insisting we're going to adopt them out, so she keeps telling me not to name them or get too attached to them." He nodded like he understood.

"There are so many! What a big family to have in such a small house!" He laughed happily and both of them smiled, glancing at the dogs wandering around and doing their own things.

"Yes, and they all have such strange personalities. It really is like one big family in here." Nikoru giggled, setting the orange one on the floor, letting him bound off and tackle the blonde one from behind. The blue one walked over and sniffed Naruto's leg, making them all look down at him. He looked up into Naruto's eyes, then wagged his tail and let his tongue fall out of his mouth. Naruto grinned.

"Hey there, buddy!" He knelt down and scratched the top of the blue one's head. It almost grinned at him, barking happily as Naruto pet it with a huge smile. "This one likes me!" He beamed up at the girls and they nodded, smiling too.

"He's sweet for being so big...He looks like he'd be the scariest of them all too." Naruto giggled as the blue dog tackled him to the floor, pushing him over backwards with heavy front feet and sitting on top of him, licking at his face. The others came over too, beginning to sniff and yip, tugging at his clothes and licking at him as he laughed and rolled around.


	4. Discoveries

"Discoveries"

The blue dog grinned as it sniffed the boy, recognizing the smell on him. Sometimes using this jutsu had its perks. 'Come, come quick! This one is one we've been tracking!' He bounced around, trying to get the others' attention. They ran over, sniffing at him and pretending to play with him. He seemed very happy for the love and attention.

The blue one looked around, 'Wait, where is he? He needs to see this!' Finally the black one padded over too. The blue dog grinned and tugged at the boy's shirt, lifting it from his stomach. 'Smell, smell! He's got Kyuubi in him! THIS is the Kyuubi host we were sent to find a while back!' The black dog lifted a lofty bow, sitting down next to Hotaru's feet to watch the boy wrestle with his team mates. The orange dog sniffed viciously around the boy's belly button, then looked up between the blue and black one.

'Kyuubi-uubi-uubi! Sempai, Tobi found the Kyuubi-boy!' The blonde one snorted and shook his head, tugging at the orange dog's ear and growling playfully.

'Don't be stupid, Tobi, and don't take all the credit! You didn't find him at all, baka.' The others lifted their heads simultaneously to look at them, then began playing with the boy again.

'We need to keep this boy close. When we are ready to go home we can take him with us. Leader will know what to do from there.' The black one sighed as he looked between all of them, then pawed the ground in front of him, as if making a point. They each gave their own forms of recognition and he nodded, then looked up at Hotaru as she held a hand in front of her mouth and leaned against Nikoru's arm, giggling at the sight in front of them. 'I think he's the one I'm looking for otherwise too...' He murmured, glancing between the boy and Hotaru.

Finally Naruto pushed the dogs off of him and got up, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the girls and rubbed the back of his head. "They're alot to handle, but alot more fun than Kiba's dogs." He grinned, letting Nikoru help him up off the floor.

"Well, these dogs are just mutts to play with, those animals are bred to kill; it's understandable." Hotaru smiled proudly, as though she raised the animals herself, then looked at Naruto. "Umm...NaruNaru...I have a favor I need to ask of you. I hate to bring it up now, but since you're here..." She glanced down at her feet as she spoke, the black dog lying over the tops of her feet again and the black and white dog biting playfully at his ears, seeming to annoy him; but he did nothing against it.

Naruto and Nikoru both glanced at her, "Sure! What is it, Onee-san?" She smiled at his pet name and motioned for him to follow her into the bedroom.

"Nikoru...do you think you could make a snack real quick? We won't be but a second." She smiled over her shoulder at Nikoru, who nodded she understood, then turned and walked to the fridge. The black dog and the black and white one followed them into the bedroom. She didn't turn the light on and she didn't shut the door, she just walked to the nightstand and grabbed something off of it, slowly turning to face him. The dogs situated themselves between their feet, glancing up between the two of them at the sudden feel of tension in the air.

Hotaru looked down at the dull head plate in her hands, biting her lip as she did. "Hotaru-chan..." He looked at her in some surprise and she gave a soft smile back at him.

"I-I can't take care of him right now." She murmured, but Naruto shook his head, watching her extend her hands out towards him. "Please, Naruto...Keep him with you for a while. Please...I cannot handle the weight of this burden at this moment." The black dog blinked hard at her, then looked at Naruto, who had tears welling in his eyes.

"B-but...Onee-san...I gave you this because it means the most to you." He slowly pushed her hands back towards her, but she shook her head, pushing them farther towards him.

"He means just as much to you; if not more. I'm trusting you with him because you're the only other person in the world he loves just as much. Please, Naruto!" She cried out at the end, finally breaking down and sobbing. She fell to her knees, gripping tightly to his headband, drawing it up to her eyes and shaking her head slowly, crying. "I feel bad enough as it is, giving this over to you, making you bear the weight of his lose and his hatred...But, I need a break! I-I can't do this alone anymore! Please!" She sobbed loudly, Naruto dropping to the floor in front of her and gently reaching out, touching her shoulders. The black and white dog jumped up, bouncing against her chest and yipping, letting her tears hit him as he begged for her attention.

"Hotaru..." Naruto pushed the little dog aside and pushed her hands to her lap, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her tightly. The black and white dog got ready to launch an attack on him, for being pushed aside, but the black one stepped in front of him and shook its head.

'Let them be...I need to see how this goes.' So they sat back and watched. Finally Naruto pulled back and swiped at her tear stained cheeks.

"You shouldn't feel bad for this. It's understandable, anyone would break under this kind of pressure. You've held out alot longer than any of us expected, to tell you the truth." She nodded slowly, gasping for air as she ran the back of her hand over her eyes.

"I-I just...I-" Naruto shook his head, putting his forehead to her own, brushing hair behind her ears.

"I understand, I'll take care of him, and give him back when you are ready." He wrapped his fingers around the headplate and she took in a shaky, heaving breath, nodding and kissing his cheek.

"Thankyou, little ototo...Thankyou..." It was the first time she had called him that in a long, long time. He felt more tears fall from his own eyes and hugged her even tighter, then took the headplate and tucked it into his front pocket. He kissed her forehead and sat up, rising to his feet and taking her hands, gently lifting her to her own.

They walked into the living room slowly and quietly, the black and white dog glancing between her and the black one. Finally it gave a slight nod of its head, then the black and white one yipped and took off after her. The black one remained in the now empty room, thinking of the glinting head plate both had spoken of so lovingly. So, his little brother had formed a bond with the Kyuubi's vessel...and some how gotten some other girl to think she was part of their clan. Did she maybe think so because she had formed this, "relationship" with his little brother? Maybe she thought herself part of their clan because she was in this "realtionship" with him. He settled on the girl's bed again, closing his eyes as he thought.


	5. Puppy Baths

_~~**~~This piece makes me giggle pretty hard. Bathing my dog Bruce is alot like bathing Hidan turns out to be, so I've been where Hotaru's been in this piece lol But, this is basically another time jump. As Hotaru says in the piece, it's been about 3 days since they've picked up the dogs and I have no idea how long it's been since Naruto visited last lol~~**~~_

"Puppy Baths"

"We need to give them baths before we go out there with them." Nikoru looked up from setting up a fluffy bed inside the new box they had gotten for the dogs. They were planning to take them back to the ramen shop, but sit outside of it with them and offer them for free to anyone who passed by. Nikoru had looked depressed all day and she had barely spoken at all. Hotaru had to admit she felt a little depressed too, but they just couldn't keep all of them, there was no way they could afford it. Besides, they were getting bigger, the blue one especially.

"Yeah…just start the water and I'll round them up. They're hiding." She sighed and got up, trudging across the room, the little orange puppy bounding behind her. Hotaru laughed softly, pointing at him.

"Not that one, I don't think he knows what's going on." She pointed to him and Nikoru gave a halfhearted laugh, simply trying not to be rude. Hotaru walked over to the kitchen sink and punched some buttons on a pad, starting up the bath, then walking away from it and making something to eat so they could pack a lunch. It was still early in the day and Hotaru planned to stay out there as long as they could stand the cold.

When the bath was drawn Nikoru had only managed to gather up the orange one, which wasn't putting up a fight at all. She handed him over to Hotaru who lifted a suspicious brow, "You're not even trying, are you?" the thin blonde blushed sheepishly and Hotaru shook her head, holding the squirming puppy tightly beneath her arm. "Go get the others." She shook her head and walked into the bathroom. The puppy saw the water and immediately started to squirm harder as she held it over it. "Calm down, it's barely filled. The water's luke warm, promise." She started to dip it into the water and it started to whine. Finally she dunked it in and waited, holding it by the body to let it get use to the water. Soon it started to splash and drink the water so she let it go and smiled.

"I got the yellow one, come help me! The red one's not too happy." She got up, glanced over her shoulder to make sure the puppy would be okay, then ran to help. The red puppy was tugging at Nikoru's sleeves and growling as she gripped onto the squirming and whining yellow puppy.

"Calm down, little man. It's just a bath." Hotaru grabbed the red one and it turned, trying to bite at her hands. She grabbed it by the back of the neck and shook it lightly, growling and baring her teeth back. "No! I'M the dominant one!" She snarled and it got quite, turning a sulky look to the side, so she turned and started to carry it into the bathroom. Then she caught sight of a silver tail sticking out from beneath the coffee table. She stooped down and grabbed the gray dog before it could run, causing it to glare and bark angrily. Luckily as soon as she picked up the gray one the brown one gave up and simply waddled after them. They quickly carried their captives into the bathroom and dumped them in the tub, then ran to grab the last three.

Nikoru found the blue one hiding underneath the bed. The only problem was it was so big that it could barely fit, so she had no trouble grabbing its behind and pulling the whimpering animal out. Hotaru found the last two hiding between the washer and drier. They both snarled and tried to bite at her. She managed to grab them both, but the black one escaped as soon as she drug it out. She tackled it to the ground and hurried it to the bathroom, dumping it into the tub just as Nikoru dumped the blue one in.

Though the bathtub was quite large, it was now quite full too. A few of them were just sitting and looking around but the more childish few were bouncing and playing together as they now realized they weren't being separated-just yet. "I'm gonna go get some towels…start trying to figure out how we're going to bathe them." They hadn't exactly planned this through. Hotaru walked out of the bathroom and slid the door shut deciding to pipe some music in there, thinking maybe it would calm everyone down. It had been four days since they had brought the puppies home and she had put off giving them away for too long as it was. They had to get it done today.

Hotaru came back in without any clothes on, Nikoru lifting a brow as she turned to look at her friend. "The towels are outside of the door, I figure we'll bathe with them. It might help if they see us getting the same treatment." Hotaru shrugged and kicked the little pink plastic stool over, Nikoru getting up and stepping out of the bathroom with a small nod of her head. Hotaru bent over the tub, biting at the inside of her cheek as she tried to decide who would make a good example to be bathed first.

Most of the dogs were looking straight up at her like they were trying to decide something too. She tossed hair out of her eyes, smiling and reaching into the tub for her favorite little dog; the black and white one. He always seemed a bit confused, but she figured since she liked him so much, it might be easier for her to start with him; she might not be so willing to hurt him.

He excitedly yipped in her arms, happy to be picked out of the bunch once again. She smiled and kissed his cheek, tucking him against her breast as she turned and slowly turned the shower on. He stopped licking the top of her breast to stare up at the water that now arced over their heads in thin streams, hissing as it became warmer and warmer. "Don't worry, we're gonna do this together." Hotaru cooed, rubbing at the top of his head before slowly easing half of her body under the water. He started to pull away, whining softly as he pushed at her soft skin with his little claws, but she kept gently smiling and stroking at his back.

Nikoru came into the room, as bare as her friend, and shut the door behind herself. She glanced at Hotaru, who was gently brushing water through the scared black and white puppy's fur. "I don't think bathing them in the tub is going to be of any use. So I'll keep the others busy while you do that, then we can trade spots. We'll each do one." Nikoru smiled, pushing hair out of her eyes as it matted to her forehead and the steam fogged her vision a little. Hotaru nodded, having gotten the puppy use to the water enough for her to sit down on the stool right beneath the stream. He was now wagging his tail and wriggling to get free of her grasp, pressing his body against her own as she held him between her legs and reached for the shampoo.

"Sounds like a plan." Hotaru nodded, watching Nikoru sit on the side of the tub and smile down at the others, who seemed confused as to whether they should watch the scene in front of them or go about their business as much as they could in the contained puddle of water they now sat in.

"They seem pretty calm...and that one you've got seems to really be enjoying himself." Nikoru smiled as Hotaru set the puppy on the floor and shampooed his body, watching him roll this way and that on the tiles, his tongue lolling out and gathering shower water.

"Right? I hope they're all like this." Hotaru giggled, the little puppy getting up and licking at her legs before bouncing against them, eager to get into her lap again. She picked it up and hugged it, then set it atop her thighs and started to wash loose fur and shampoo down the drain. "Go ahead and get another one, start getting it use to the water." Nikoru nodded, turning back to the lot and selecting her orange puppy. He was as eager as the black and white one to get picked, but seemed clueless to the fact that he should be upset about the water.

He just dove out of her grasp and right beneath the stream, playing excitedly with the other. "Guess we'll leave them out here when we get done with them." Hotaru stood up and rinsed the shed fur off herself, then stepped back and swapped places with Nikoru. This was going alot easier than she thought it would. She'd thought it was going to be hell on earth.

"Grab his legs! No, no, his back legs! He's kicking me!" Nikoru dove, dropping the shower head to the tiles and letting it spray and flail wildly on the floor as she grabbed the big dog's legs. "You need to wash his stomach! Hey! Don't fucking bite me there!" Hotaru swatted the dog on the muzzle quickly before grabbing his front paw again.

"I can't get the shampoo!" Nikoru kicked the shampoo to herself, but shoved the orange dog away from the silver dog's feet, trying to make sure neither of them got hurt.

"Okay, on the count of three you let go and soap up your hands and his stomach..." Hotaru wrapped her slender ankles around the silver dog's hind legs, trapping them behind hers. "One...two...THREE!" Nikoru let go and moved as fast as a pit hand in the Indie 500. The other puppies that were already clean were making it even more difficult, trying to play and attack the silver dog while it was pinned and down. Hotaru struggled to hold the thick animal flush against her body, bending over it to keep it straight and still, but having to dodge back every now and then for the wildly snapping teeth. He had nipped her breasts a few time already and she couldn't afford to keep letting go of him to hit him. The animal snarled, bending its head and starting for Nikoru's own as she struggled to soap up the top part of its abdomen.

"Stop it!" She grabbed its muzzle, making it eat soap as she did, then went back to her work while it spat and growled and licked to get the taste out.

"Done! Rinse!" Nikoru grabbed the shower nozzle and sprayed the dog like there was no tomorrow. The animal started to back up, knocking Hotaru flat on her ass and slamming her head against the shower door.

"Goddammit!" He wildly shook his head, biting every which way to keep her head pinned as his over sized paws stomped and tromped all over her thighs and lower half, scratching and bruising whatever they could reach.

"Done!" With that Hotaru lurched forward, pinning the dog to the floor with all of her weight, basically lying on top of it. It struggled and flailed viciously.

"Dump shampoo on its head!" Hotaru cried out, but Nikoru hesitated.

"What if it gets in the poor things eyes?" She bit her lip and Hotaru looked up at her with a glare of determination and death.

"Do I look like I fucking care about its goddamn EYES right now? I'm getting DESTROYED here!" She barked and Nikoru nodded quickly, dumping shampoo into the animal's face. It reared back like some rabid beast, foaming at the mouth as Hotaru struggled to keep her head away from the danger. She sat up on the animal's body, keeping it pinned by the shoulder blades and working the soap onto its back in quick motions, trying to swipe as much from its eyes as she could. She turned and scrubbed its ass, but decided it was safer to just let the part she sat on go, there was no telling what would happen when she got up.

Nikoru sprayed the dog again, Hotaru holding its head down with the palm of her hand. "Clear!" Nikoru leaned back and Hotaru bounced off the dog, who got up and immediately ran for the nearest puppy-the orange one. He slammed into the animal full force, sending it flying into the wall with a cry as the silver dog bit and snapped at it. "Stop it! Don't take your anger out on him, baka!" Nikoru jerked the dog back, sending it skittering into the other wall. It started for her, but Hotaru stepped in front of her and lashed a hand out, stopping it.

"Just calm down! You're fucking done, go sulk in a corner or something!" He backed down, doing just that, but biting and lashing out at whatever got to close to him. Both girls breathed, then looked into the tub tiredly, there were a few more to go, hopefully they wouldn't be as evil as that one.


	6. Akatsuki Realizations

_~~**~~Again, another time skip. The best I can remember is, the girls couldn't adopt the dogs out. No one wanted them and the ones that did seem to consider taking one in the puppies would chase away some how. So, the girls are still trying to figure out what to do with the dogs at the point that this piece comes in, they're just sleeping on it at the moment lol~~**~~_

"Realizations"

Hotaru rolled over in bed tiredly, nuzzling into her comforter once more. She drew her legs up into herself, dragging a soft, fuzzy body closer to her own. It was the black and white dog. He had taken to sleeping curled up against her like a teddy bear and she couldn't say she didn't enjoy the company. Itachi looked up from his perch on the couch with suspicious. When he decided no one was getting up or awake, he went back to painting his nails. Sighing he shook his head to brush hair out of his eyes. A few moments went by and he had to toss the hair out of his eyes again. By the third time he had to do it he got annoyed and made a small noise of disgust.

He got up and capped the bottle of nail polish and set it on the coffee table, then walked over to the far corner of the house, where the vanity mirror and sink stood next to the washer and drier. He knelt down and opened up the cabinets, rummaging through them for hair barrettes he knew one of the girls had. They were always wearing cute little barrettes and things. He finally found one, shaped like a little pink heart, and popped it in his hair, forcing his bangs to stay back. He put the basket away and closed the little doors, then rose to his feet and turned to start on his toenails. But, he froze when he was greeted with another pair of feet. He knew those feet. Running around them for the past couple of days he knew those tiny-little, purple painted, toes. He looked up, coming face-to-face with a glaring Hotaru.

She was holding a kunai out in front of herself and had her feet positioned for a quick and effortless lunge forward. It was a bit hard to take her seriously in her panties, little frilly tank top, and bed hair, but he did his best. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" She narrowed her eyes as he slowly raised a hand.

"I can explain." He mumbled and she turned her head at a slight angle, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"You had better get started then. You're lucky I haven't already gutted you." She moved the kunai just subtly enough that light glinted off of it, reminding him it was there.

"I didn't break in. I was already here when you went to bed." She narrowed her eyes, turning to face him fully this time.

"You are NOT off to a good start." She slid a step forward, but he slid one back, bumping lightly into the vanity mirror. He didn't need to start a fight, he didn't need to blow their cover either, but something had to give.

She smirked, "Listen, you can tell me if you broke in here for girls' clothing. We've all got our kinks. And lord knows Nik and I have good taste in clothing." With that she gestured the tip of her blade to the hair barrette he had put in. Now he narrowed his eyes.

"That is NOT why I'm here." He snarled, but she shrugged. "I'm your DOG. I put the hair barrette in so I could finish painting my nails." She let out a scough.

"I'm getting ready to gut you simply for that sad excuse of an explination. You're my DOG? I have eight dogs." She put a hand on her hip this time. He rolled his eyes tiredly.

"I'm the black one. I'm "sulky" and "moody" according to you. My real name is Itachi." With that Hotaru put a hand over her mouth.

"Uchiha? You're Uchiha ITACHI? You fucking bastard!" With that she swiped at him.

He caught her by the wrist and twisted it behind her back, making her drop the blade, then slammed his free hand over her mouth. She could smell the fresh nail polish and the smell of her shampoo on his skin. "Do NOT make a scene. I know who you are and now you know who I am. But, we've got to learn to get along together because we're stuck living together now. I've got this team to take care of and you've got US to take care of. You'll do it, or I'll burn you BOTH in your sleep." He hissed next to her ear, causing her eyes to narrow once again.

She started to struggle, mumbling and muttering behind his hand, but he didn't let go. "We're not bad people. We just needed to lay low for a while. YOU brought it upon yourself when you took us in. You could've let us be, we would've been fine." She paused at this, wondering if he wasn't crazy, but was being serious. Then she watched one of the other dogs come padding into the living room. It was the blue one. Before her eyes it morphed into a man with blue skin and what looked like gills on the side of his face. He had fanged teeth and smelt of fish, and he was about seven feet tall.

"We were hoping you wouldn't find out this way. We're sorry for the burden, but you have to understand, he's right, you did it to yourselves." The fish man gestured with his hands, giving her a big ear to ear grin as he did. Hotaru let out a sigh behind Itachi's hand and relaxed lightly, seeing that Nikoru had gotten them into trouble-again. Itachi slowly moved his hand and she glanced over her shoulder at him, then glanced back at the fish man.

"So, are you a dog, a fish, or a man?" She wondered sarcastically and he laughed.

"I do love your humor. You're more bitter than the other." He offered and she gave another sarcastic smile.

"Thanks, speaking of her-NIKORU!" Itachi slapt his hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

Nikoru shot up out of bed, a bit groggy on her feet, but gripping a kunai and staggering around muttering Hotaru's name. When she saw a man only a little taller than her best friend, restraining her best friend, and another taller man towering over her with sharp teeth, she woke up fully. She threw the kunai and the taller man caught it, dropping it to the floor and lunging for her in one fell sweep. She screeched and turned to run, but he caught her in huge arms, lifting her up off the floor and gripping the lower half of her face. He turned her to face Hotaru and the girls stared at each other with big eyes, kicking and struggling again. Soon all the other dogs came into the room, woken up by the noise; becoming themselves upon seeing the scene.

Now there was a varying range of men standing in the tiny living room, everybody crammed on top of everybody. The gray dog had become a taller man with silver, slicked back hair. The orange dog had become a tall man with an orange swirled mask on, only one deep black eye showing from it. The brown dog had become a man with long, deep brown hair, almost black, with deep-set black eyes that had glowing yellow irises. The red dog had become a short, boyish redhead and the yellow one had become a slightly taller boy with long blonde hair and one visible blue eye. The last one was Hotaru's favorite little dog, the black and white one. He had become a strange, monster-like thing, that was half man half plant. His body was half black, half white, his eyes glowing yellow, and he was encased in what looked like a giant green, venus fly trap.

"Now, listen, we didn't mean to interfere in your lives. You should've just left us where we were. But, you didn't. Now, you're screwed and you HAVE to take care of us." The red head spoke calmly, moving his hands like the fish man had done. Nikoru moved a little and the blue man released her mouth to let her try and speak.

"Wait, wait, wait…so you've watched us take baths, get dressed, do house work, basically LIVE OUR LIVES and you didn't say a damned thing? You couldn't of warned us?" She growled and the blonde shrugged.

"Don't worry, it wasn't much to watch." He smirked and winked at her, causing Hotaru to begin kicking and writhing in anger. The silver haired one chuckled.

"I wouldn't agree with that. I have to say, the baths were great." He winked too and Nikoru made an indignant noise.

"You can't stay here. I mean, we can't live with eight guys." She looked up at the big guy holding her and he shook his head.

"No choice. You chose to take us in, now you have to deal with it. Besides, we'll only be here for a bit longer. Like Itachi said, we're just lying low for a while." He let her go, seeing as she was much calmer than her friend. Nikoru put a hand to her forehead and rubbed it, closing her eyes and shaking her head slowly.

"You can let her go, she won't do anything." She gestured to Hotaru, but Itachi shook his head.

"She's still wound as tight as a spring; releasing her would not be wise or beneficiary." Nikoru looked at Hotaru who glared at him and started to kick again.

"At least let her talk." She sighed and Itachi made a face, but let her mouth go.

"You killed my fucking family!" He put his hand over her mouth again and Nikoru stared wide eyed at him.

"You're THE Uchiha? Oh, now you really can't stay. Now you have to go. All of you." She gestured to the door, but the red head shook his head.

"We're sorry, but we can't." Nikoru stepped forward and they all tensed, waiting for an attack.

"I'm not living with my friend's worst enemy! Plus, you can't just move in with us!" She stomped a foot and the taller man reached out and touched her hand. She jerked to face him, pulling away quickly and bumping into the tall, silver haired man.

"Listen, we just need somewhere to stay for a few days. We'll stay in dog forms so no one will know and then we'll leave. Just wait it out for a few days." He smiled, trying to stay patient with her.

"What if we don't? What if you all go to sleep and we tie you up in a sack and dump you somewhere, old school style?" She grinned sarcastically and he grinned back at her.

"Here I was thinking you were the sweet one. We'll keep someone up at all times if we have to. We all may even be able to enjoy staying together. We just need to make this work for a while." Nikoru thought about it again, biting at her fingernails as she did.

"Let's put it this way, babe," The silver haired one spoke up and she turned to look at him, seeing why he had a triangle of white fur on his dog body now; the necklace. "You keep us here and treat us like your favorite pets or we'll kill you first." He gave a smug smile and she opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and thought about it. After a long moment, she nodded slowly. "Fine."


	7. Housemates

"HouseMates"

Hotaru's eyes widened and she started to kick again, but Nikoru shook her head and looked at her. "Hotaru-chan, really…I mean, you can be as mean to them as you want-as long as you're humane about it-but, we've got no choice. This is the Akatsuki we're talking about here." She gave her a pleading look and Hotaru stilled, glaring at her. "Please don't give me that look. We don't have a choice. Now come on…we might as well get to know our new…" Here she glanced around at the boys, who were starting to shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. "…housemates." She muttered and Hotaru rolled her eyes, nodding slowly. She muttered something and Nikoru motioned for Itachi to move his hand, he grumbled, then pulled his hand away.

Hotaru took a deep breath and waited, then nodded slowly again. "Fine. But, I swear to the gods, if I get any HINT of anything weird or stupid going down, I will do more than throw you all in a sack and dump you somewhere." She narrowed her eyes at all of them and they all gave her some sort of recognition, sarcastic or not. After another brief moment she walked over to the little fridge and grabbed a bottle of CC Lemon, uncapping it and walking back to the oven, leaning against it and folding her arms over her chest. Nikoru sat on the couch and shrugged, looking up and around at all of them.

"So…I guess since you know us…Why don't you tell us your names? That way we'll have something to call you now." She laughed, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I'm, honestly, done with this." Itachi sighed and became a dog again, walking off and jumping onto Hotaru's bed, settling down and closing his eyes tiredly. Hotaru shook her head and started for him.

"Huh-uh, my family's killer is NOT sleeping in the same bed as me." But the plant looking one grabbed her by the arm. She turned to glare at him, but he smiled, a bit of an evil thing if you ask her.

"He is always moody and annoying…you'll do best to just ignore him and let him do as he pleases; we often do." His voice was soft and gentle, so was his grip, like he didn't mean any harm. Then his eyes narrowed and his grin widened, showing her sharpened teeth.

"We are waiting to eat him. Maybe we will save a piece for you." His voice deepened and hallowed out, it sound raspy and…well…evil. She thought for a moment, watching him even longer, and remembering that he was her favorite puppy, then nodded.

"Fine. I'll take his heart." She turned and threw herself on the couch with Nikoru, who wrapped a calming arm around her friend. The plant man leered, giving a slow and curt nod as he looked at the girls.

"We knew we would get along so well with you." He murred and Nikoru gave a nervous smile, having mixed emotions about that one.

"That's Zetsu-san. You'll have to forgive him, he's of two minds. And a bit of a cannibal." The fish man grinned again and so did Zetsu, nodding his head slowly. They nodded slowly too. "I'm Kisame. The red head is Sasori, the blonde is Deidara, you know Itachi, the half dressed guy is Hidan, the one behind him is Kakuzu, and the masked one over there is Tobi." They nodded together as each boy gave a respective nod at the mention of their names.

"You all look just like your dog forms…it's kinda cute." Nikoru, once again, tried to lighten the mood.

"It's a jutsu. An old jutsu." Sasori muttered dryly and Nikoru nodded again. Hotaru snorted and took another swig of her drink, huffing and looking off to the side.

"I always thought something smelt odd about you all. I should've taken you to the Inazuka's and left your asses there. See if you could fend off REAL dogs." She growled, making Itachi lift his head from the bed. Nikoru laughed slightly nervously.

"Hotaru dated the Inazuka boy for a long time…they're still best friends and…she learned a lot of her canine jutsus from him. That's all she means. She's just worried she's slipping." Here she turned and patted her friends arm, shaking her head and giving her a warning look. "Guess you need to go see Kiba again, Hotaru…train a little more with him." Hotaru rolled her eyes but nodded slowly.

"Yeah, train more. Listen, I'm going outside for some air." She got up and stalked through the bedroom, sliding open the glass door and stepping out onto the little concrete area they called a patio. Nikoru leaned forward and touched her forehead again, shaking her head slightly and sighing heavily.

"Sorry…you can understand why she's on edge. She's just…she's my self-instated protector and you've made her feel like she can't do her job." She muttered as Zetsu and Itachi watched Hotaru through the glass door. She was pacing like a caged tiger.

"Are y'all lesbians? I was certainly expecting to see something hot sooner or later, I kept hopin'." Hidan grinned and nudged Kakuzu, who slapped him upside the back of the head, making him glare.

"We're not. Thank you. We're hetero sexual life mates, basically." This made him bust out laughing, but Kakuzu hit him again. "It's just, we've been friends for a long time and it seems like no matter how mad we get at each other, no matter how far away we move from each other, we always wind up coming back to one another. Our threads are deeply entwined in the tapestry of life." She sighed again, making Kisame nod and look at the other boys.

"We all know how that goes. We hate each other and somehow we're stuck together." He laughed and so did the masked boy, who clapped happily.

"Tobi loves everyone though! Tobi has so much fun with them!" He bounced over to her and flopped on the couch beside her, grabbing at her hands and holding them tightly to his chest. "Tobi hopes you don't hate him! Tobi loves you so much! We have so much fun together!" He bounced in his seat, making her laugh and look at the other boys lightly.

"He's always like that. We think he got hit one too many times on the head as kid, un." Deidara shrugged and shook his head.

"Sempai is so mean to Tobi!" The masked boy whined, then looked back at Nikoru.

"Don't worry, Tobi. We're all good, okay?" She smiled and he beamed, nodding quickly and hugging her.

"Yay! Tobi is so happy!" She giggled and hugged him back. This was just insane really. Part of her liked them, the other part of her hated them. And she just didn't know what to do about Hotaru.


	8. Seperation Anxiety

"Seperation Anxiety"

After a little while Hotaru got up and came back inside. When she did she had calmed down greatly and Nikoru had settled in even more, apparently. She was currently playing a game of tic-tac-toe with Tobi and the other boys were doing things they couldn't normally do as puppies. Basically everyone was settling in and learning to coexist with each other. This bothered her, to some extent, and on the other hand she was just glad things were going okay. She walked over and tossed the bottle next to the trashcan where their plastic recycling pile was. They would have to take the plastics out tomorrow morning…she would need Nikoru to do it. She turned to face the unsuspecting Nikoru. "Nik, babe, I'm going to stay with Kiba for a while." Nikoru looked up with big eyes suddenly, so did some of the others.

"What? Why?" Nikoru jumped up, causing Tobi to pull back so she could rush past him and grab her friend by the shoulders.

"Calm down, just for the next day or so. I just…understandably, am having some trouble adjusting to this situation." Hotaru smiled softly, but Nikoru stuck her bottom lip out.

"But, things are going okay now! Itachi's probably going to stay in dog form from now on…So, why can't you stay? You can't leave me alone with EIGHT guys!" She shook her lightly, looking around with shifty eyes, then looking back at her. Hotaru reached out and gently stroked platinum blonde hair behind the girl's ears, running her thumb over her cheek.

"I thought about that…But, I'm confident you can take care of yourself until I can come back with a better head on my shoulders to take care of you. I'm in no state of mind to protect you right now; you're more of an asset to yourself than I am." Nikoru bit her lower lip, but nodded slowly, thinking about it. "Besides, if anything happens all you have to do is call. You know I'll come." She kissed the girl's cheek, then hugged her lightly, "Now, help me throw some things in a bag." She started to lead her into the bedroom quietly.

Kisame walked in, clearing his throat with a deep rumble. "Uh, ladies…I hate to interrupt, but, Hotaru-chan, you can't leave." At this Hotaru stopped packing to turn and put her hands on her hips, eying him suspiciously.

"I can't leave my own house? And why is that, fish man?" She arched a brow and he gave a low, patient, chuckle at the name.

"You endanger our secret. It just comes with the territory of hiding missing-nins." He shrugged and Nikoru paused packing too, but Hotaru held a hand out for her to keep going, so she shrugged and did so.

"I'm going somewhere where I feel safe and I feel that I can think. I need to clear my head, because if I don't, I might start playing volleyball with one of yours!" She stomped a foot and pointed at the lot of them, glaring.

Hidan snickered, "Babe, you and your friend just don't seem to get that we're missing nins. S-class, babe. NO ONE can touch us." He waved a hand in front of himself slowly and she and Nikoru both turned to glance at him from the corners of their eyes. Something flashed in their irises and they both smiled gently.

"Would you like to put that to the test?" Nikoru wondered. Hidan opened his mouth to speak when Sasori lifted a hand.

"That's not the point of the matter. We can argue about that later. Right now, you need to understand that you cannot leave." Hotaru shook her head and moved forward a step, angrily.

"I'm not going to be a prisoner in my own house just because you lot don't want anyone to know some stupid secret! I'm leaving and that's final!" Kisame held out a hand to keep her in place and she turned her angry glare on him.

"Why don't WE go with her?" They all looked up at Zetsu. Itachi jumped off the bed and morphed into himself.

"No, YOU of all of us don't need to leave the house." Hotaru turned to look at him, huffing and folding her arms over her chest.

"Why can't HE leave? Gods, he's one of your own and you're keeping him locked up too? What sort've club is this?" She jammed a finger at Zetsu, who grinned evilly at them, staring continuously at Itachi.

"Because, he's the most unstable. He's the one who's the most able to give away our secret. I'LL go with you if anyone's going." He bypassed the "club" comment and Hotaru lifted a brow.

"I'm leaving the house to get the hell AWAY from YOU for a few days! You are NOT going with me!" He closed his eyes and sighed, as if trying to calm himself down.

"One of us has to go with you. If you insist on going, you cannot go alone. Someone MUST go to protect the secret." He offered and she snorted.

"The only problem with that is the Inazukas raise dogs, they'll find you out in seconds."

Zetsu moved forward again, "Things will be fine…They won't find us." She stepped towards him and reached out, touching his fly trap while looking at Itachi still.

"I'll take him. I'll keep an eye on him and he can keep an eye on me, if you insist." Itachi glared, but she shrugged, "It's either he goes with me or I go by myself." Zetsu grinned again.

"She has chosen us…We will go with her." And with that Hotaru didn't let Itachi say anything else. She went over and snatched her bag off the bed, wrapped her arms tightly around Nikoru and kissed her cheek.

"Good luck. Punt them like footballs if they bother you, and call me if you need me. I'll bring the calvary if I have to." With that she turned, saw puppy Zetsu wagging his tail and waiting on her, grabbed him beneath her arm, and walked to the door.

She opened the closet and put her coat on, pulled on her knee high fur boots, tugged on gloves, a scarf, and a snow cap, then tucked Zetsu in her pocket. "I'll be back in two or three days." She warned over her shoulder, opening the door and letting night air and snow in. "Remember, anything weird and I'll eat faces. FACES." With her final warning lingering in the air a bit ominously, she shut the door and left. Nikoru sighed and looked around at the grumbling and muttering boys.

"Alright…I want a midnight snack…Anyone else?" She wanted to get the easier air into the room again, make things lighthearted again. Part of her was slightly scared about being by herself with seven missing nins, but she was also confident she could keep the peace for two or three days.


	9. Refuge

"Refuge"

Hotaru shivered as she reached up and knocked on the tall door in front of her. Kiba lived in an apartment near his family so that he could continue training Akimaru with the rest of the dogs and continue training with his dad to one day take his place. Hotaru had no problem with that. She thought it was admirable the boy wanted to take over the family business. However, she did have a problem with the fact that it was snowing tonight, heavily, and his apartment was almost across town from her own.

No one answered and Zetsu popped his head out of her pocket, looking at the door, then looking up at her with big yellow eyes. She sighed and shrugged a little, patting the top of his head and knocking on the door a little louder. She waited again, but again, no one answered. She couldn't blame him, it was two or three AM something. Zetsu shivered and snorted the cold out of his nose, then ducked back down into her pocket, the little flap covering him from sight. Her hand that rested inside the pocket stroked his little body as he curled into her soft glove for more warmth.

She groaned and shifted her feet, "Yeah, well at least you have somewhere warm to wait." She grumbled, then backed up and looked at the windows in the house. Not a damned light on. She knocked on the door again, this time as hard as she could, without breaking it, and then gave it a swift kick for good measure. "Kiba! Answer your damned door!" She barked, enhancing her voice with a little burst of chakra, then glancing around to make sure she hadn't woken up any neighbors. No lights came on. But, she did hear stumbling around inside of Kiba's apartment. She banged again, to make sure someone heard her.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, dammit! This had better be good!" She heard a growl follow the comment and knew Akimaru had gotten up with him. Finally the door opened and a burst of warm air hit her, causing her to close her eyes and sigh in relief. Kiba rubbed sleep out of his eyes groggily. "What IS it?" He grumbled, then blinked and looked at her. "Hotaru-chan?" His hand ran absent mindedly through his spikey brown hair and she smiled lightly, blushing and shrugging.

"I need somewhere to stay tonight...I figured you and Shino wouldn't mind so much." She muttered and he shook his head quickly, backing up and opening the door wider for her.

"N-no! Not at all! Why can't you stay at your own place tonight though? You and Nikoru get in a fight?" It was rare for the girls to fight, but it had been known to happen, and when it did it was an all out brawl.

She came inside, shaking snow off of herself and pulling her boots off in the genkan. "No, no, nothing like that. I umm..." She paused, realizing she hadn't come up with a valid excuse on her way over here. "Well...we umm..." She sighed and turned back to him, her bag already sitting on the raised wooden flooring, her bare toes wiggling on the cool concrete. She looked down and blushed again, "Well...we kinda did...but, just a little. I just...needed some space...and figured she did too." She hated to lie about things like that, but apparently it was necessary right now. He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, then wrapping a warm and strong arm around her, pulling her in close.

"It's fine. Stay as long as you want. You hungry?" Before she could answer Akimaru appeared at the top of the stairs. Upon seeing her the, now giant, dog bounded towards her, barking happily. He jumped onto her, his huge front paws slamming her into the door again, causing her to cough and laugh as he lathered her with happy kisses. Kiba laughed and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck, letting a rose tint hit his own cheeks as Akimaru continued to bark things at Hotaru. "He umm...he says he's happy to see yah." He mumbled as she brushed herself off and patted her pocket, making sure Zetsu hadn't gotten squished.

"Yeah, I got that." She giggled and started forward again. Once more Akimaru stopped her, suddenly jamming his nose against the pocket that contained Zetsu. He sniffed loudly, growling in the back of his throat. Kiba furrowed his brow a little but, just as he was about to ask Zetsu poked his head out of her pocket again, nipping Akimaru on the nose and yipping playfully. Akimaru jerked back, beginning to snarl. Kiba's eyes widened in surprise.

"Akimaru, no! What's wrong with you, man? It's just a puppy!" He shoved the over sized dog back some more and Hotaru turned to the side so Akimaru couldn't see the little dog any more. She didn't like deceiving people, and she realized the longer she stayed here, the more she was going to have to deceive and possibly hurt a dear friend. Kiba turned and looked over his shoulder, laughing a bit nervously, "Sorry, babe. I think he's still half asleep, he keeps talking about that not being a dog and weird stuff." She laughed nervously too, shrugging her shoulders and gently pushing Zetsu back down into her pocket.

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry to cause so much of a stir...I just didn't want to leave him in the snow." She figured she wouldn't tell him about the other eight they had found along with him; not right now.

"Nah, it's fine, I'm gonna go put him up in the room and see if I can't get him to calm down. I'll meet you in the kitchen." Kiba said this as he was dragging the snarling and barking Akimaru back up the stairs.

"Alright...Sorry again!" She called after him, then slid some house shoes on and walked through the foyer and into the kitchen. She knew Kiba was going upstairs to talk to the canine and figure out what was going on. She knew he could also probably smell that Zetsu was not a normal dog; most likely not a dog at all. But, she also knew he wouldn't confront her about it until he had solid proof. She might escape the next two days unscathed if she was lucky.

Kiba and Shino's apartment was much larger and laid out than the girls'. It rather looked a little like a house. There was the foyer where, standing in the genkan in front of the door, you could look up and see the stairwell, look to the left to see the entry to the living room, and look forward to see the kitchen, all while you were pulling your shoes off. It was certainly the best vantage point in the house. Once you went up the stairs you come face-to-face with a closet, turn left to find Shino's bedroom, go a little farther down for a half bathroom, the laundry room at the end of the hall, and Kiba's room on the right. Shino's parents were paying for the apartment for them, though both boys bought everything else they needed with mission money. Hotaru loved being in Kiba's house, because it reminded her alot of her old home; of Kakashi's house.

She sighed and lifted Zetsu out of her pocket, holding him up in front of her face and studying his own for a moment. "Just be on your best, dog-like behavior, please. I just want to relax for two days." She mumbled and he yipped softly, wagging his tail at her. She didn't know which side just spoke to her, the dark side or the light side. Kiba had taught her to speak a little canine when they were Chunins, but he hadn't taught her too much because he didn't want her listening in on his conversations with Akimaru. He took his bond with his dog very personally and to have another person be able to understand the animal would have been awkward for him; but she did understand that wholeheartedly.

When Kiba came back downstairs Akimaru was tailing calmly behind him. He found Hotaru sitting on the counter in her pajamas, her coat and accessories left in one of the kitchen chairs on the other side of the room. She was swinging her legs, holding a cup of coco in her hands and stirring it absentmindedly as she watched Zetsu run around on the floor,sniffing and figuring out the place. "Did you change into that in here or did you come over here in that?" Kiba laughed a little, pointing at her and she blinked, looking up at him, then down at herself, then blushing again.

"Oh...I just came over here in it. Sorry...wan' me to put something else on?" He shook his head and held up his hands as he walked over, leaning against the counter near her and taking the cup of coco she offered him.

"I'll never complain about being able to see you like that." He grinned his famous toothy grin at her and she giggled, popping his shoulder before taking a sip of her drink. Her eyes fell on Zetsu again, who was now bouncing at Akimaru's big, white feet and barking playfully once more. He was attacking the larger dog's feet and ankles and Akimaru just sat there taking it. Kiba grinned, "Oh come on, big guy, can't take on a little puppy?" At this Akimaru looked up and let out a quiet snort, pushing the little dog off to the side boredly. Hotaru giggled softly.

"Watch out, Akimaru, he has sharp little teeth." She pointed out, but the bigger dog seemed to shrug it off. Kiba turned to look at Hotaru again, watching her smile happily at the two animals as she continued to sip slowly at her drink.

"So, where'd you find him?" She shrugged with a smooth roll of her bare shoulders.

"On the way to your place. I heard whining and barking so I followed it behind the ramen shop and found him in a box back there." Not a full lie. He nodded, turning to look at the strangely colored dog.

"He has odd markings...You think maybe he's someone's pet? Like he got away or something?" He glanced at her again and she shrugged a second time.

"He does look a little odd, but he's really sweet. I figure I'll keep him for a while, till someone claims him or I can adopt him out." He nodded slowly, sipping at his drink too. The puppy ran back over to them and began bouncing at Kiba's feet, pushing its paws against his bare legs and wagging its tail. Akimaru growled possessively, but Kiba shot him a warning look as he bent over and picked the little animal up.

"C'mere, little dude...Let's get a good look at yah." He grumbled softly as he held the dog under the forearms, turning him this way and that to examine him. Zetsu was fine with it, wiggling impatiently only every now and then. Kiba shrugged and handed him to Hotaru, who had put her drink down and was holding her hands out for him. Zetsu immediately started licking her cheek and set his tail to wagging harder as he bounced to get her entire face, making her laugh and pull away. "Sure is a friendly little sucker." Kiba grumbled and Hotaru giggled, putting Zetsu on the floor again with a click of his claws.

"He kinda is...he's bipolar though." She shrugged and he frowned.

"I thought you just found him." She blinked as he caught her in her own lie. Then she swallowed hard and laughed quietly.

"Yeah, but, you know...I figure with the half black, half white body, that's the gods' way of telling everyone he's bipolar." She laughed nervously again and brushed hair out of her face, turning to look at her drink intently. He studied her for a longer moment, then sighed and shook it off.

"You don't mind sleeping in my room, do you?" He leaned up off the counter and she shook her head, taking the last swig of her coco.

"No, I don't mind. Just umm...just no...you know..." She shrugged and dropped off the counter, grabbing her coat and things while he snagged her bag.

"Yeah, I know, I know. 'Cause of Him." He grinned over his shoulder at her at first, but when he spoke the last word he looked away and grumbled, starting up the stairs with Akimaru following. She paused to grab Zetsu, then started after him. She waited till they were in the room with the door closed to speak again.

"I'm sorry, Kiba...I just..." She never really knew how to talk to him about Him. She never had. They had never gotten along and she had never been able to make them work through it...There was always some kind of tension in the air around the two of them.

"All I'm going to say is I'm mixed on how I feel about the whole situation. But, I know you're one damned strong girl for sticking by him after what he did." He growled the last part, having dropped her bag in a corner of the room and currently busying himself with getting her a pillow. She shifted uncomfortably, holding Zetsu close to her chest as he looked up and between the two of them, studying their faces and reactions.

Kiba had never forgiven Sasuke for hurting her like he had. And he still vowed to make him hurt the same, only ten fold, when he found him again. Hotaru was honored, but at the same time, she hated the fact that he apparently ached on the inside every time he looked at her. In a way she felt like she had ruined his life a little, and still was; just by being in it.

She sighed and walked over to the bed, dropping Zetsu on it and taking hold of Kiba's hands, making him turn to look at her. "I'm sorry." She stood on tip-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder and hugging him tightly. It took him a moment, but he finally sighed and hugged her back, closing his eyes and losing himself in the brief embrace. When she pulled away they both felt a little better, but he also felt that pang of hatred and hurt hit his heart again.

He looked at the bed, noticing Zetsu sitting very still, watching them both. He reached out and muffed the little dog's head and Hotaru smiled, letting Kiba climb into bed first. She climbed in after and nuzzled under the covers with him. He debated for a long moment, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, whether or not it would be okay, but he couldn't stand not to. It would be torture for him, but again, he just couldn't not do it. He rolled onto his side, facing Hotau's back, and scooted closer to her. She smiled and pressed her body into his, letting their curves form to fit each other, causing him to sigh in relief.

He wrapped an arm around her and found his hand resting on a warm furry body. When he glanced over her smooth shoulder he saw she was holding onto the sleeping Zetsu like he was a stuffed animal. He sighed and smiled too, dropping his head back and inhaling the sweet, warm vanilla scent of her chocolate colored hair. Gods he had missed falling asleep next to her. Akimaru jumped on the bed after a while, curling up over his master's feet, and Hotaru's too.

He had always known his master was in love with the girl, and he had always felt his master's pain for the girl. He thought he loved the girl too...Like the mother he had always needed. When his master and the girl were together he felt he had a full family. But, now this strange new dog had been brought into the picture. He knew it wasn't a dog. It smelt human. He just needed for his master to see with his own eyes. He just wanted to protect what was left of the broken bond between his family members.


	10. Good Mornings

"Good Mornings"

Kiba woke up the next morning to an empty bed. He frowned, touching the cold, empty space on the mattress beside him, and glancing around. Akimaru was still asleep over his feet, like he always was, and nothing else seemed to be out of place. He put a hand to the side of his head, groaning and wondering if he had dreamed her coming back to him, then he spotted her bag over in the corner of the room.

He slid his feet from beneath Akimaru, trying to contain his grin as he remembered that he was going to be living with his Hotaru-chan for the next two days. Akimaru looked up, yawning loudly before getting up and stretching. "Come on, big guy, let's go see if we can find her." He patted the top of Akimaru's raised butt and the dog snorted a laugh at him, then turned and jumped off the bed, following Kiba out the door in two easy strides and flicking the door shut with his tail.

They came around the corner to the kitchen and paused, able to hear her voice halfway down the hall. Kiba's eyes lit up as he spotted her at the stove, giggling and glancing down at Zetsu every now and then. The little puppy was bouncing back and forth over her feet, nipping at her toes as she wiggled them at him from inside her stockings. Once and a while he would actually bite down and she would gasp, shifting her free foot from beneath his little body and tapping him on top of the head until he released the toe he had hold of, then she would giggle and go back to cooking.

She was wearing a short sweater dress of black. He wasn't usually fond of her wearing the color because it was so somber compared to her bright personality, but the dress clung to every one of her curves, the color making her look a little older and more sophisticated. It had a floppy turtleneck collar that folded low over the beautiful rounds of her breasts, letting you see inside a bit if she bent at the right angle. The dress stopped high thigh, threatening to show her backside if she bent over too far. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail on top of her head, the left over lochs curling and twisting down her back. She had on black thigh high stockings, black satin garter belts pressing deeply into her toned thighs, diamond rhinestone hearts glittering as the buckles.

Akimaru walked around Kiba, tired of waiting on him to move, and padded over to Hotaru lightly. He gave a quiet rumble in his chest to let her know he was there. She turned and beamed, "Good morning, Akimaru-kun! Did you sleep good?" He nodded and she gave him a piece of bacon, which he devoured happily. "I'm so glad! I'm sorry I woke you up so late last night, really I am." Kiba straightened up and ran a hand through his messy hair as he listened to Akimaru tell her it was perfectly fine and for her not to worry about it.

Zetsu barked at her feet, bouncing on them and pawing at her legs for her to notice him. She giggled, "Fine, fine, here, Jealous Heart." She handed him a smaller piece of bacon, but uncooked, and he grinned, snatching it from her fingers. Akimaru looked down at him, sniffing his side slightly, but Zetsu bounced his backside to the right a little, so that he could look up at Akimaru and growl while he tore the bacon into smaller pieces to eat. The bigger dog shook its head and grumbled something, then looked up at the humming and cooking Hotaru. Kiba sighed softly, she was like a mother, or a little house wife. It was making him feel funny on the inside.

"Akimaru, where's Kiba-kun? Breakfast'll get cold if he's not careful." Akimaru glanced over his shoulder at Kiba, who held his hand up and shook his head, then walked in as if just coming downstairs.

"Did I hear my name?" He gave a cool smile as Hotaru turned and beamed at him.

"Morning, Kiba-baby." She giggled, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"When did you get dressed and come down here? I didn't even hear you get up." He held his nose and lips to the side of her throat for as long as she would let him, then pulled back, watching her go back to her pan on the stove.

"You were passed out. I guess last night was too much for you. I really am sorry about all that." She waved him off dismissively, but smiled over her shoulder at him before feeding Akimaru more bacon and Zetsu more uncooked bacon.

"Why uncooked? He'll get sick." Kiba tried to take the raw meat from the little dog, squatting down at Hotaru's feet and admiring her calves as he did, but the puppy snarled and bit at his hand.

"Oh don't, he's fine. He won't eat cooked stuff, it's so weird." She brushed her fingers through his hair and he glanced up at her, smirking before reaching out and snapping her garter belt. She yelped and swatted him on top of the head, causing him to fall back and lean against Akimaru, grinning and snickering alongside his companion. "Oooh, go sit at the table!" She stomped a foot as he made a face at her, but slunk off to the table, along with Akimaru.

"Hey, did Shino get up yet?" Kiba cradled his chin in his hand, still watching Hotaru, but holding a cup of coffee in his other hand now. She paused plating up the food and glanced at him, nipping something off the edge of the spatula as she did.

"Mmm-hmm," She nodded slowly, turning and looking back at the food she had been working with for what felt like forever. "He got up really early, he was up before I was." Kiba blinked a little, sitting up a little straighter as she said this.

"Did you talk to him?" She nodded again, a bit absentmindedly.

"Yeah, I came downstairs in my pajamas and he was sitting down here drinking coffee. I was so embarrassed! But, I think he understood. I told him what was going on, made myself a cup of coffee, then hugged him and went back upstairs to get dressed. He said he was going to see his dad for something, I don't remember what." Kiba glanced down at Akimaru, who looked up at him and blinked, tilting his head just so. They were thinking the same thing, they both knew it. They were both wondering how much Shino saw of her when he saw her in what she considered to be "pajamas".


	11. Playing House

"Playing House"

"I had to go pick up some salves from Dad." They all jumped and looked at the doorway, seeing Shino standing fully dressed and holding a plastic bag of stuff. "While I was out I picked you up some things, Hotaru-chan. And mom sent you something over." He walked over to her, handing her the plastic bag as she beamed and handed him a plate of food.

"You made it just in time for breakfast!" She giggled as he walked over to the table and pulled some chopsticks out of the container in the center of the table. She walked over and sat a plate on the floor for Akimaru, then sat one in front of Kiba, running her fingers through his hair as she did. Kiba turned and pulled some chopsticks out too, tucking in almost immediately. It had been too long since he had tasted Hotaru-chan's food.

"Awww, Shino, that's so sweet. I'll have to send your mom something back, this was too nice!" Both boys glanced up, seeing Hotaru digging through the bag on the counter, holding up a bracelet. Wide, silver chain lengths glittered in the soft lighting of the kitchen, a polished and smoothed piece of glass hanging from the center of the links. Encased in it was a firefly, its backside still brightly lit, as if trapped in its dying breath. Kiba tilted his head a little as he regarded the strange trinket.

"How'd you get its ass to stay lit?" He looked at Shino who shook his head and sighed as Hotaru giggled and put the bracelet on.

"Family trick." Shino muttered dryly and Kiba shrugged, going back to what was most important-food.

Zetsu yipped at Hotaru's feet, making her look down and smile. "What? Do you wanna see what Shino got me too?" She giggled and picked the little dog up, holding it beneath one of her arms lightly as she let the glass piece dangle in front of its face. Zetsu pawed at it for a moment before trying to bite it, not liking the sound or feel of the glass against his teeth, but determined to eat the shiny thing dangling in front of him. She laughed and kissed the top of his head, turning back to the counter and pulling out what was left in the bag.

"Oh you picked up dinner! That's perfect!" Kiba glanced up again, this time Akimaru did too, Shino failing to take the same interest. He nodded absentmindedly, finishing off the tamagoyaki she had fixed for him. Sweet for Shino and salty for Kiba and Akimaru, that was why it had taken her so long. "Look, Kiba-baby, Shino-kun picked up stuff for Oden! We'll have to bring out the kotetsu!" She beamed and Kiba grinned, turning back to Shino and nudging him a little.

"Goin' all out for that family thing, aren't yah, buddy?" He smirked, but Shino flicked his arm, his signal to lay off.

"I simply thought it'd be good for Hotaru. It'll keep her entertained seeing as I didn't know what you would be doing today, and I'm going to be in and out of the house." Kiba shrugged again, polishing off his own plate and sighing in content.

"That's right, Kiba-baby, I'm gonna get started on making this so I don't bother y'all all day." Hotaru walked over and took their plates, refilling their coffee cups as she did and kissing the top of Kiba's head.

"Well, I don't have anything to do today. I was gonna go home tomorrow and mess with Sis and the dogs, but so far as today I wasn't doin' anythin'." He shrugged and she smiled, putting the dishes in the sink.

"Alright then, we'll keep each other company. How does that sound?" She glanced at him and he nodded, muffing the top of Akimaru's head as he did. Zetsu ran over to him yapping and wagging his tail, trying to jump into his lap, but failing and falling onto his back on the floor. Kiba looked down, flicking Akimaru's ear as the bigger dog growled at the little mutt.

"C'mere, buddy. What's up?" He picked the little dog up and lifted him into his lap, stroking the puppy's back as it padded around on his legs and sniffed at him. Zetsu grinned up at him, bouncing against his chest and yapping, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he waited. Kiba frowned, "You know...he's the weirdest dog I've ever met." He looked up at Hotaru, who shrugged, failing to look over at him.

"Yes, I meant to ask you what the circumstances were with your little friend, Hotaru-chan. He's very strange." Shino sipped at his coffee, not wanting to get up and on the go again for the time being. She shrugged again, washing the dishes from breakfast and getting ready to start on dinner, as said.

"He's just a puppy. I found him and am keeping him till I can adopt him out." Shino nodded and looked over at the puppy that Kiba was playing keep-away with. He was tapping the end of his chopstick on the dog's nose, riling him up, making him bounce all over his lap in effort to get the utensil, but Kiba wasn't letting him.

"He sounds weird when he talks. Did you notice it?" Hotaru shook her head without looking at them.

"No...I-I didn't notice anything like that." She muttered, turning and brushing her hands off on her apron. "I'm uh, I'm gonna go change into something more suited for housework. I'll be right back." With that she pulled off the apron, tossed it over the back of a chair, and ran out of the room. Shino watched after her, frowning behind his collar as he did. He glanced over at Kiba, who glanced over at him, both locking eyes for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm wondering too. But, I'm not sayin' anythin' till I get some solid proof." Kiba grumbled, putting the chopstick down and gently nudging the puppy off his lap and to the floor. Shino nodded, sitting still for a moment as he thought.

"Then I will remain silent as well. I will help in anyway I can." He rose to his feet, Kiba looking up at him as he leaned against the table, thinking also.

"Wanna use one of those critters of yours?" He had noticed the little dog had fallen still and seemed to be listening to them, but he couldn't tell, it also looked like the animal had just settled down beneath his legs.

"Perhaps." Shino walked out of the room, leaving Kiba nodding slowly and wondering where and when Shino would decide to use one of his little spy bugs.

"Hey, Hotaru-chan," Kiba rose to his feet, both dogs following after him as he walked into the foyer and to the bottom of the steps. Hotaru paused mid-way down the steps, working her hair into a messy bun atop her head, the left over curls tumbling down around it and scattering atop her head. "Hotaru, you call THAT house work clothes?" He lifted a brow as she made a face at him, dropping her hands and smoothing out her skirting as she started down the steps towards him again.

"Anything can be housework clothing, but this is a little better than what I had on before, yes. It gets warm in the kitchen, that sweater dress was stifling." She passed by him, lightly running her hand over her chest as he watched her, then sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah well, you shouldn't have any problem being too warm now." He grumbled, running his hand through his hair and glancing over his shoulder at the door, almost tempted to tell Shino to stay out all day instead of coming and going like he planned. Zetsu ran ahead of him, basically launching himself into the back of Hotaru's legs. She stopped in the kitchen doorway and giggled, kneeling down and picking him up off the floor, then starting over to the oven again. "You know, you're gonna spoil him that way." Kiba grumbled as he walked over to the counter with her


	12. Alone with Seven

_~~**~~Right, for safety's sake, this story is rated M for a reason. If you don't like sex, don't read the next 4 chapters, just skip ahead lol You won't be missing any important pieces to the story that you can't gather up details of later, so don't worry. Oh, and if you don't like scenarios that play out basically like rape, then skip ahead the next 4 chapters lol~~**~~_

"Day1_Alone With Seven"

Nikoru glanced at the puppies running around her living room and sighed, closing her eyes and putting down her scroll. Hotaru had been gone for a whole day now and while things had run pretty smoothly, and without a hitch, she still was dying for her friend to come home. The boys only ever, really, changed into human form when it was night time and they were sure very few people had the risk of coming over. They wanted to make sure no one could walk by a window or possibly get too close to the house and risk hearing strange and loud voices; especially since the girls lived in an apartment complex. During the day the house was generally quite and she generally went about things on her own; she still wanted her friend home though. She wanted that safety net back.

Yes, she could take care of herself; very well. Yes, she was a big, strong girl that didn't need someone to protect her. But, she liked having Hotaru around. She liked having that safety net. That satisfaction of knowing that if something went wrong, nothing would happen, because she could just fall into the net and relax until the worst was over.

Nikoru rose to her feet with another heavy sigh. "You guys, I'm going to take a quick shower. All of you just hang out in here and I'll make you something to eat when I get out and get dressed." She combed fingers through her thin hair, glancing mostly at Itachi as she spoke, knowing he would be the one to enforce the rules. Itachi, Kakuzu, and Sasori, seemed to be the natural leaders of the group. Itachi blinked at her, then looked away, settling his head on his paws again and closing his eyes. Kisame shifted next to him, eventually flopping over to rest his head on his friend's stomach and roll onto his back. Nikoru took a quick head count, making sure none of them had gotten too far from her grasp, then turned and walked towards the shower.

It was a little awkward now because there was no real bathroom door. It was just the misted glass of a shower door. And she couldn't undress in the middle of the house like she normally could, because there were seven sets of eyes to stare at her. So, she now had to go into the shower, shut the door, strip, then open the door a crack so she could toss her clothes outside. If she didn't want to take a bath then she would toss her towel and clothes in the bath so they wouldn't get wet and she wouldn't have to risk opening the door until she was covered again. Today she wasn't going to take a bath, she was just taking a shower to clear her head a bit. She tossed her house shorts and T-shirt into the bathtub, then tossed her towel on top of them, then turned on the hot water.

She closed her eyes and forgot all of her worries for a moment. For a brief second there was nothing but her and the hot water cascading down her body, washing away any impurities or thoughts she no longer wanted. She let out the sigh of relief that had been building within her, then ran her hands through her soaked hair once again. There were three constants in her life: the bliss of a good bath, the joy of good food, and the beauty of sleep.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the tiny slat of a window, made of the same misted shower door glass. It was possible to open it, and it was at street level so someone would have to get down on their hands and knees to look into it if you did open it; but Hotaru was really the only one that ever felt the need to pull it open. Sometimes Nikoru wondered if maybe her friend had a little bit of an exhibitionist side to her that she didn't really know about.

Nikoru could see snow that had collected in a little bank against the bottom of the window, and more falling on it. She remembered the hot springs in Hokaido where you could go and sit in a delicious hot spring, but have snow all around you and falling on you while you drank warm sake and laughed. It was one of her favorite vacation spots with Hotaru. They would have to go there soon...it had been a while, come to think of it. Nikoru blinked and looked back at the window, stepping from beneath the water long enough to stand on the edge of the bath tub.

She unlatched the window and jerked on it, almost losing her footing, but managing to fight it open. She used a slender hand to slide some of the snow bank back, so it wouldn't fall in, then she shivered and got down, sticking herself and her frozen hand beneath the steamy water again. The cold air spilt into the tiny little bathroom quickly, combating with the heat and fogging up the glass on the door even more; which was an unexpected bonus for her. She felt her eyes close one more time, her head tilting back to allow the water to pour over her face, her mind floating away to a hot springs in Hokaido.

Hidan smiled to himself as he slid open the shower door and stepped inside, quietly letting the door click in its track behind him. The beauty of their bathroom was there was no lock on the door. He studied the nude form in front of him, biting the inside of his cheek as he did. The girl blinked and glanced at him over her shoulder, as if she didn't think he was honestly there, then she did a double take and covered herself with her hands, drawing an arm across her breasts and placing one between her, now, tightly closed legs. She let out a cry of surprise and he laughed, stepping towards her in a swift movement.

"Get out, you perv!" She screeched and shrunk into the corner, making him give another chuckle.

"I don't see why you care so much, you obviously want SOMEONE to know you're in here." She stared hard at him, like he had lost his mind, then closed her eyes and shook her head quickly.

"You're insane! GET OUT!" She cried out again, trying to shrink farther into the wall. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, jerking her arm away from her breasts and slamming it against the tiled wall, causing her to shriek again.

"So who is it? Who do you want to see you naked so badly?" He grinned, brushing his lips over the round of her cheek bone as his words hissed past her ear. She shivered and turned her head away.

"No one! I don't know what you're talking about!" She was confused as to what to do with her free hand. Should she continue to cover her shame with it or should she use it to push him off? He smirked, letting out another breath of a laugh through his nose as he did, running a finger beneath her chin while he admired the fear and confusion on her face. He could feel her quivering in his grasp and almost hear her heartbeat picking up speed.

"You've got the window open, so you want someone to see you..." He squeezed her wrist tighter, pressing it a little harder into the wall as he took another step closer, this time forcing her body against his. She yelped and tried to jerk away, but found she couldn't move. "Who is it? Do you have a boy in town that you secretly think about? A little boy that you want to walk by this window and find you through?" This time he grabbed her other wrist, jerking her hand away from her mound and forcing it up against the wall.

"No! I don't, I swear! Please, just don't!" She drew one leg over the other, sliding down the wall slightly as she did, trying to continue hiding herself from him. He smirked knowingly, leaning over and running his tongue over the rim of her ear before biting teasingly at the earlobe.

"Maybe it's that girl you live with." He hissed slowly, her eyes jerking open at his accusation and a gasp escaping her lips. His tongue ran down the side of her throat, making her turn her head farther to the side and deeper into the corner. "I bet that's what it is...You come in here and open that window, hoping she'll walk by it and peep inside..." He bit at the flesh over her pulse, feeling it race beneath his lips as he listened to her whimper.

"I don't! She's my best friend! I don't like anyone, especially not her!" She whined, grinding her legs together subtly and shifting beneath him, as if trying to pull from the caress again. He chuckled once more, his thumbs driving into the heels of her palms, forcing her to hold her hands still.

"You get off on the idea of someone seeing you in here, don't you? You like the idea of people watching you be dirty with yourself." He bit harshly at one of her nipples, dragging his tongue over it to gather the water, then taking the whole thing in his mouth and biting. She tossed her head back with a gasp, sliding down a little farther on the wall, biting at her lower lip.

"Stop it! You're lying! I-I had it open..." She drew in a sharp breath as he pulled away, tugging the hardened flesh with him. "I was thinking of Ho-Hokaido!" She gasped finally, but he seemed to not have heard her. He stepped back, releasing one of her hands, but holding fast to the other, spinning her out of the corner and towards the door. She screeched, her free hand slamming against the thick glass, rattling it in its cheap, metal frame.

"Well, Hokaido or not, everyone's going to hear and see you now. You should be real happy." He pressed a hand to her back, bending her over farther and making her jerk her head over her shoulder to look at him with a pained expression.

"Don't! Let me go-you can't!" She could feel his length rubbing against her thighs and teasing over her folds, causing her to bite back a whimper of want. Her body was reacting in a way it shouldn't! She didn't want this! Why was she reacting this way? Where was Hotaru? She had promised this wouldn't happen!


	13. Pity a Woman Alone

"Pity a Woman Alone"

Itachi blinked and slowly looked up, seeing the little hand slam into the shower door. Kisame jolted awake and upright, turning with a shake of his head to look also. Matter of fact, all of them padded over to see what was going on. None of them had noticed Hidan sneak inside, but he seemed to be the only one missing from the group at the moment, so he had to be the culprit. They could see the shadowy form of the girl not too far behind her dainty little hand and they could see a little of Hidan's shadow too. Kisame tilted his head, glancing down at the bored looking Itachi, then at the others. 'Should we do something?' He wondered, getting up and taking a step forward, preparing to jump off the couch to help her. They could hear her screams now, and they could hear Hidan laughing.

Itachi put his paw on top of Kisame's big feet, making the bigger dog look down at him. He shook his head, 'Don't. She's fine. We will know when to interfere.' He then moved his paw and rest his head again, closing his eyes in sleep once more. Kisame continued to look down at him, then glanced at the shower door again, seeing it rocking and rattling in its frame as the girl's body was moved violently against it. He looked back down at the others, but they had gone back to doing what they were doing, Kakuzu the last one to move away, shaking his head tiredly as he did.

Tobi remained sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, staring hard at the door. Kisame watched him for a moment too, wondering what was going through the odd animal's head, then shaking his own head and tearing his eyes off of the orange creature. He sighed heavily and walked back over to flop down by his friend and commander, curling deep into his stomach for warmth and closing his eyes.

Nikoru's eyes shot open and her mouth parted with a silent scream as he suddenly forced himself into her, pressing her body forward and hard against the glass. She tried to grip at the smooth surface, her fingers only succeeding in dragging downwards in slow streaks, her knuckles whitening as he drove deeper into her still. "Stop, please! I'm going to break!" He laughed as she said this, using his free hand to grab her hip, his fingers bruising her soft flesh.

"Been a long time since you've had anything but you're own fingers inside yah, eh, bitch?" He laughed loudly, beginning to thrust in and out of her, reveling in the sensation of her body tightening around his own. Tears sprung to Nikoru's eyes, something between a sob and a moan escaping her lips as her hand formed a fist on the door.

"It hurts...! Gods, please...! You're too big...!" His hand slid farther forward on her hip, pressing down on her pelvic bone and drawing her farther back against him. He groaned deeply, sounding more animal than man as he did.

"You're fine. You'll get use to...it." He pulled her second arm farther back, drawing that side of her body with it. She whined loudly, the pain almost too much to bear, but something warm and amazing beginning to blossom beneath it. Her eyes shut tightly against the sensation, knowing exactly what it was, but hating herself for it.

Hidan reached out and grabbed her free hand, jerking her entire upper body back, listening to her cry out in surprise. He could see her face better this way; and her body looked much better arched like this. Tears were streaming down her face, but it only made him smirk harder. He could hear the joy she was beginning to feel in the hitching of her breath and the heavy panting she was doing. "So, bitch, how's it feel to have a real man in yah?" He laughed, pulling almost completely out of her before slamming her hard against him again. She let out a cry of joy that time, but bit her lip fiercely when she realized what had happened. He laughed harder.

"Please st-stop! You have to! It hu-rts!" He pulled tighter on her arms, drawing them together slightly, forcing her body to almost fold in on itself. She tightened around him again. That and her begging only fueld him to keep going.

Before long he felt himself slipping. His grip on her wrists tightened, to the point of breaking them, as his thrusts became faster. He closed his eyes, his breathing deep and heavy, as he focused on her pleas and moans. Nikoru felt the changes in him and felt him grow larger within her folds. She jerked her head around to face him again, her eyes wide and begging, tears once more streaking down her cheeks. "D-don't! Not inside!" He ignored her, letting her scream in anguish and anger as the sudden burst of heat blinded her.

He let her go when he was done, watching her drop to the floor heavily. She collapsed against the door, panting and whimpering as her body throbbed. He backed beneath the still running shower, closing his eyes and running his hands through his hair before shaking it out quickly. Glancing down at the heap of broken girl, he wondered if maybe he had actually been a little too hard on her.

She was sitting in a dry corner near the door, but a puddle was slowly forming beneath her, both of water from her hair and his own excitement leaking out of her. He shook off the thoughts and rolled his shoulders, letting the water run over him continuously as he closed his eyes once more, leaning his head back and replaying the last few minutes in his head. Was it maybe her first? There was no blood...Didn't some girls not bleed though?


	14. Newfound Toys

"Newfound Toys"

He heard a soft moan at his feet and quickly looked down, feeling a tiny hand against his leg. She had crawled over to him and was now leaning her head against his leg, one hand pressed flat against it. He furrowed his brow, wondering if she was getting ready to do something stupid, but she just sighed and slowly looked up at him. She looked confused and scared still, but there was something mischievous glinting behind her eyes too. "That was my first time..." So he had been right. Damn. He hadn't meant to scar her for life.

She rose to her knees, making him blink and look back to her. She was looking at his groin, her thin fingers teasing over his length, beginning to work it back to life. He flinched, making her giggle and look up at him again, this time a small smirk on her face. "You need to finish what you start, Hidan." She cooed so quietly he almost didn't hear her over the water. As she said this she ran the tip of her tongue along the side of his shaft, then bent and began to kiss at his balls softly.

His eyes closed and he winced, letting out a soft groan of pleasure, his hand flexing at his side in effort not to grab her. After a second she let out a soft breath and pulled away, her fingers working him gently as she ran her tongue over his tip, moaning lightly. She was going to tease him into a frenzy if he wasn't careful. It had been a long time since he had had a woman, it was one of the reasons he had forced himself on her. She glanced up at him again, her look innocent, but full of hidden deviousness too. "You can hold on, I don't care."

She barely got the words out of her mouth before he grabbed the back of her head and forced her down on him. She shot her hands out in surprise, grabbing onto his thighs and tensing against his force, stopping herself from gagging. He simply held her in place though, enjoying the heat of her mouth as he practically doubled over with pleasure. When she was sure he wasn't going to take control she slid back, beginning to gently work her fingers along with her lips, her second hand taking hold of his balls and slowly working with those.

Hidan didn't think he had ever been this close to heaven. He wasn't sure he had ever felt a girl that knew what she was doing like this one did. He felt her moan around him and glanced down, seeing she had driven her backside farther out, allowing him to see the dip of her back and the curve of her ass. He smirked through another groan, almost growling in the back of his throat. "You want it again, bitch?" He pressed her down again, once more feeling her moan reverberate through his entire lower body. She glanced up at him with pleading eyes, causing him to leer. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back, leaning down as he tangled his fist in the soft, blonde tresses and she gasped for air. "Say it then. BEG for it." He stood up and waited, pulling her back to where she sat in front of him with her legs spread wide.

She whimpered, her cheeks flushing a deep red. "Please..." She glanced away from him, feeling herself getting wet at knowing he could see everything on her.

"Please what, whore?" He tugged at her hair again, causing her to yelp and reach for his hand. "Say it or I'll walk out." She gasped and nodded slightly, wincing as it made his grasp on her hair tighten. She looked him in the eye, tears brimming in her eyes from embarrassment, but never leaving.

"Fuck me. Please." He laughed and let her go, kneeling down in front of her and forcing two fingers into her. She cried out, trying to slide back, but he slammed a hand against the door, making her jerk her face back to him.

"I thought you said this was your first time." He moved his hand behind her back, drawing it into an arch and pulling her breast into his mouth again. She moaned, letting her head fall back and grinding her hips against his hand. Her right leg was bent on the floor and her left leg was bent in the air, draped over the arm attached to his working fingers.

"I-in a...long...long time...!" She gasped, reaching out and putting her hand behind his head, gently wrapping her fingers in his silver hair. He bit hard enough to draw blood, making her scream. He pulled his fingers out, quickly drawing her into his lap and replacing them with his ever wanting length. She turned her head towards his hand, mouth open with pants of want and need. He held his fingers towards her and she coiled her tongue around them, closing her eyes and moaning and she licked her own joy off of them. He continued to feast on her breasts, moving from one to another, making them each bleed. Nikoru let her head fall back again, digging her nails into his shoulders as she rode, driving her hips hard against him over and over again.

"H-Hidan...more! Fuck harder...!" She lost track of what she was saying, she was beginning to lose track of herself completely. He never seemed to mind though; matter of fact she wondered if he didn't enjoy it more. After a moment he moved away, leaving her lying on the floor as he reached into the tub for something. When he knelt back over her he slid her panties into her mouth, causing her to let out a muffled cry of surprise. He made her kneel and lean against the wall, then he took her from behind again, gripping hard at her breasts and biting at her neck and shoulders as he listened to her muffled cries of joy and pain. He must've minded after all.

When he thought he could go no more he simply stood up. Again he stepped beneath the shower and washed himself off, again he closed his eyes and thought back to the past hour or so they had been in the shower, and again he glanced over his shoulder at the still open window with a smirk. Gods save anyone who had happened to walk by on that street today. He glanced down once more, noticing he wasn't hearing anything coming from his new play toy, and slowly shook his head as he looked at her. She was certainly messy. Honestly she looked like a bad hentai.

She was lying on her stomach against the tiles, panting with her wadded up panties still near her lips, where she had simply let them fall out of her mouth. Her fingers would every now and then flex on the tiles, and a leg would shift over another every so often, but for the most part she just lay there covered in sweat and spunk. She was already starting to bruise in spots too, and her nipples were still beading blood. He shook his head again and shut off the shower, leaning over and grabbing her towel out of the tub. He wrapped it around his waist, grabbed her clothes out of the tub too, stepped over her, and walked out, shutting the door behind himself.

Hidan ignored the looks the others were giving him. He dumped her dirty clothes in the hamper near the washer and drier, then walked over to the kitchen sink and hit some buttons on the little pad near it. A voice quietly told him his bath was running, then a timer appeared to show him it would take fifteen minutes for it to fill. He sighed and turned, dropping the towel and sliding on his pants and robe again; still ignoring the others. Then he stepped back into the bathroom and shut the door behind himself. He scooped her up off the floor and sat her gently in the tub, resting her head against the far corner and stretching her legs out as much as they could. The water poured hot and fast at her feet, but she didn't seem to notice.

She moaned softly, rolling her head towards him and slowly opening her eyes, frowning a bit. "I..." Her voice cracked it was so close to the point of gone. He snorted quietly and shook his head.

"You fainted, bitch." Though he said it in a gentle voice. She smiled lightly, then closed her eyes and fell back asleep. He continued to squat next to the tub, his arms folded on its side, and he continued to watch her sleep comfortably. The water stopped itself when it had almost filled the entire tub. Standing and sliding his cloak off he hung it on the shower head, then reached up and shut and locked the window. He then squatted next to the tub again and proceeded to gently wash her and her hair.


	15. Zetsu's Favorable Idea

"Zetsu's _Favor_able Idea"

Zetsu watched her come into the room with her towel wrapped loosely around her pretty little body. He could smell her...especially in this form. She smelt like the shampoo and bodywash she had just used, but he could also smell her normal scent. She glanced down at him, smiling lightly as she ran a hand through her wet hair, then knelt and held out her hand to him. He bounded over, his ears flopping as he did, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Sorry I couldn't take you in the shower with me, but you know how it goes, buddy." She giggled quietly, letting him lick her nose and cheeks as his tail wagged excitedly. Holding him in both hands now, she flopped over on the bed, resting him on her thinly clad chest and staring up at the ceiling with tired eyes. He tilted his head, looking down in some confusion, able to see that something was bothering her. She rolled over, knocking him to the bed gently and resting her head in her hand, trailing her fingers down his back as she watched something play out that he couldn't see.

"I get lonely, Zetsu...I don't tell Nikoru, and I don't tell Kakashi...matter of factly I havn't told anyone...But, I do." She murmured quietly, sighing and dropping her head to the bed heavily. He blinked, sitting up and listening to see if she would tell him more. "I told myself no one could have me until Sasuke came back...I know when he comes back he'll want me again..." She rolled onto her back this time, the fold to her towel falling open just so, revealing the insides of her moist thighs and some of the bare flesh he wasn't meant to see. He couldn't help but glance at it. Yes, he was of two minds on everything, and yes he was a strange being that was housed within a plant, but that didn't mean he didn't have needs and wants.

She ran an absentminded hand over her stomach and thigh, drawing a leg up as she shifted her hips, her free hand resting on one of her breasts tiredly. "What am I supposed to do till then, though? I get to the point that I ache..." She whimpered quietly, apparently having forgotten he was even in the room. He got up and padded towards her legs, sitting down to watch her fingers stray deftly over the insides of her thighs, as if too timid to actually touch the flesh between them. Every now and then a fingertip would snake too close, causing her whole body to jump and a moan to escape her lips, but she would close her legs tightly for a moment afterward.

He couldn't take much more of it. Even his puppy body was beginning to react to the smells and sights she was giving off. His eyes closed and he fought to keep himself in check. It would be too dangerous. He would run the risk of hurting her. She might not come out of it alive and he didn't know if he could actually handle killing her. When he opened his eyes again they fell on one of her breasts, which had tumbled haphazzardly out of the towel she was in. There was a drop of water clinging to the nipple, shivering every time she moved or took a breath, and it was driving him mad.

Before he could stop he became himself and knelt over her, wrapping a hand around her breast and quickly licking away the cool drop of water. She cried out in shock, flinching and moving to pull from his grasp, but he grabbed both her hands and pinned them to the bed. His bright yellow eyes opened and slowly looked up at her, an easy grin spreading over his dual colored face. "Z-Zetsu, let go!" She jerked against him again, but he only continued to smile at her. He ran his tongue over her nipple again, causing her breath to catch in her throat and her eyes to close. He smirked mischievously.

"You told us your problem...you expected us to fix it...don't act as if you didn't." He cooed, kissing the soft skin around her breast.

"N-no! I was just-I didn't even realize I was saying it! Please let go!" She shifted her legs beneath him, closing them tightly and rubbing them together, causing him to laugh.

"You can't fight what your body craves, Hotaru-chan...Let us help you...We will be careful..." The white side gently let go of her right hand, trailing his chalky colored fingers over her hips and down the outside of her thigh. She whimpered, continuing to fidget and tug away.

"I don't want you to! Please, let me go, Zetsu! I'm sorry!" He sat up and shook his head, still pinning her left hand down. His eyes glanced around the room until he came upon a scarf she had lying on the floor, from where she pulled it out of her hair the other day. He snagged it up, effortlessly pulling her arms above her head and tying them together, making her cry out again.

"Hotaru-chan asked for it...We are only helping..." The black side hissed at her this time, causing her to shiver as he grabbed at her breasts again, rolling them around in his hands roughly.

"I'll get Kiba! He and Akimaru'll tear you apart, Zetsu-san!" She lifted her head up to glare at him, tears filling her eyes, but he only shook his head and ran his tongue over her left nipple again. She dropped her head to the bed once more, unable to deny how good it felt to have her body paid attention to.

Zetsu bit down hard, pulling with his sharp teeth, listening to her cry out as he did. She tasted as good as she looked. His tongue drug skillfully over the darkened area of flesh before he bit down again. "Zetsu, please!" She was enjoying it almost as much as he was, but she insisted on begging for him to stop. He could smell the happiness on her, so he knew he wasn't hurting her-too bad; he supposed begging just made it better for her. She was breathing heavier, panting, as it was, and her body was moving with each breath she took.

He lifted up, sliding a hand beneath her head and tangling his fingers in her wet hair, pulling her lips to his own. Their tongues meshed together behind her teeth as she let out a whimper and he let out a heavy groan, his fingers pressing hard against the wet flesh between her thighs. He pulled back, scraping fangs over her throat, able to feel her pulse beneath them. He listened to her cry out again as he drove his fingers into her and bit down on the flesh of her throat, pulling almost as hard as he did at her nipples.

She was writhing now, afraid of what was becoming inevitable. "Zetsu, don't!" He pulled his fingers out of her, surprising her as much as relieving her. Standing up he lifted her hips off the bed, hooking her legs around himself and lowering his head, running a slow, teasing tongue over her folds. She arched her back into the air, her fingers gripping down hard on the sheets as he did, gritting her teeth against the agonizing feeling. He smirked again, lifting a hand from behind her to tease at her clit, causing her entire body to shake, and a moan to escape the tightly pressed seal that had become her lips.

"Hotaru-chan needed this bad...We can always help..." The black side was hissing at her again, mocking her as his hands steadied on her back and his tongue moved over her once more.

This time its tip dipped inside, causing her to jolt at the feeling, another long moan leaving her. "D-don't..." Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she felt his tongue slide inside of her, his teeth grazing against her skin, fingers working steady, absent minded motions on her back. Her body was on fire. She hadn't felt this good in a long time and slowly she found she was giving in. He kept going, collecting every drop of moisture that left her body inside that sensitive mouth of his, even sliding a long finger in to work along side his tongue. Her eyes widened and her body went rigid, "Z-zetsu! St-stop!" She almost screamed, her fingers driving further into the sheets, pulling them into wads above her head as she felt herself slipping over that dangerous edge.

He paused, only long enough to glance up at her with that same, secretively evil smirk; and when he did, she wasn't sure she wanted him to stop anymore. "Hotaru-chan can cum, we don't mind." The white side assured, coiling his tongue around her clit and nipping at it as his finger continued to work inside of her.

"N-no! I can't-S-sasuke!" She was writhing again, twisting her body in his grasp as he continued to work her into a frenzy, still grinning at her.

"We want you to...We want to taste all of you..." The black side hissed before delving his tongue deeper into her than before, working it faster than before too. It took only a few seconds after that. White hot heat spread behind her eyes, blinding her as her body went still once again. Her grip on the sheets tightened and she let out the scream that had been building, loosing herself over an edge she hadn't been over in a long time.

He waited for her to ride out the waves of pleasure before he continued. Casually he slid his hand from her and licked her mound and thighs clean. Then he set her on the bed and looked down at her, watching her gasp for air as she slowly came to again. He leaned over her again, using his good hand to untie the scarf from around her wrists, then he sat beside her. He ran his tongue over his fingers, smirking and watching her out of the corner of his eye as he did. He savored every taste and every tiny drop like it was a delicious candy he didn't want to waste.

When a moment passed she grabbed onto his robe sleeve and pulled herself up into sitting position beside him, her face flushed with shame and eyes refusing to meet his own. He reached out and ran fingers through her tangled hair, smiling softly behind his yellow eyes. "What do I tell Him? What do I do now?" She wondered quietly, causing him to chuckle at her. She blinked and looked up, finally meeting his bright eyes in the dimness of the ever darkening room.

"You tell Him nothing...We only helped...And will help any time Hotaru-chan wants us to again." The white side winked at her and she blushed one more time, looking down sheepishly.

"That was so embarrassing..." She mumbled, taking it all in stride, alot better than he had expected. He kept running his fingers through the bottom of her hair, causing it to drip on the bed as he basically combed it without thinking.

"Hotaru-chan tasted so good though...We had trouble not devouring you whole." The black side grinned mischievously at her once more. She gave a soft, nervous laugh. "Now, that boy will be home soon." She looked up, nodding at his words. "Hotaru-chan should let him finish the job...He isn't the type to mind..." She blinked in surprise as he winked at her a second time, pulling his hand away and dropping it into his lap. "It would do Hotaru-chan a world of good...And we won't tell." With that he morphed into a puppy again, simply sitting at her side and looking up at her with an open mouth and wagging tail.

She placed a hand on top of his head, stroking it thoughtfully as she stared at her bare feet on the wood flooring. She drew in her lower lip as she thought, pausing her hand for a moment, then looking down at Zetsu and nodding slowly. "Maybe I will..." She stood up and slid on a pair of panties and a tiny tanktop, then climbed into bed, pulling the covers over herself. She kissed the tip of Zetsu's nose and he yipped happily, "I need you to hang out on the floor for a bit...He should be home soon and I think I'm going to take your advice..." She pulled him in for a hug, then turned and nudged him towards the edge of the bed. "Thankyou, Zetsu-san..." She murmured, causing him to yip again as he jumped off the bed, his tail wagging the whole time. Now she lay in wait.

Closing her eyes and facing the door she waited for Kiba and Akimaru to walk in. She knew Zetsu was right, Kiba would gladly oblige if she asked him to do her a favor like this, and she was still throbbing with want from Zetsu. She needed to be with a man so badly right now...She imagined Sasuke would understand if he found out...if he EVER found out...The question was, could she really put Kiba through a one nightstand like this? Was she that heartless?


	16. And Then There Were Seven

"And Then There Were Seven_Night2"

Nikoru rolled over in the bed, kicking at the sheets and twisting them around her ankles. The puppies had gotten to where they would sleep with her for part of the night, but when she got into a full REM cycle they would hop down and spend the rest of the night on Hotaru's bed or on the couch; it got too dangerous for them to stay on Nikoru's bed. The orange puppy was the only one who would spend the whole night through with her, and that was just because he would take the only space near her head, where she wasn't battling the covers for her life. The boys now understood why the girls had separate beds in such a tiny space; it was mandatory.

The silver puppy yawned with a shake of his head, lazily looking over at the girl that was so lost to the world. He blinked sleep out of his eyes, studying her askew legs and stretched out arms. One arm was dangling off the side of the bed, the other off the other side. One leg was bent up, the knee jutted out to the side, the other leg stretched out, her foot dangling off the foot of the bed. She wasn't snoring, but breathing very heavily with her mouth open, strands of hair plastered to the side of her face as she drooled on the rest of it. It wasn't very attractive, but at the same time, something about the innocence of it all and the openness of it, made it appealing.

He got to heavy feet and shook his head again, waking himself up as the shake ran all the way to the tip of his tail. Jumping onto the floor he landed with a solid thud, glancing around to see what other animals were up. Itachi slowly lifted his head and looked at him from a perch on the couch, making him wonder if the black dog ever slept. Looking up he padded the floor for a moment, then leaped up onto Nikoru's bed, almost sliding back off the edge, but managing to drag himself up before it ever happened. He snorted and shook his head, lifting his chin into the air like nothing had ever happened, then he heard the responding snort.

Opening one eye he caught sight of Tobi staring at him, his tail beginning to wag slowly as he sat up on the girl's pillow. He turned and narrowed his eyes at the orange dog, 'I'm not here to play, Tobi. Now get lost.' The little orange puppy yipped quietly, making Nikoru wave a hand blindly at him before rolling her head to face the other way with a groan. Hidan glanced at her, then back at Tobi, beginning to growl softly. 'Seriously, get the fuck down.' Tobi bounced off the pillow, his tail wagging a mile a minute, but Hidan slid down into tackling position, 'Don't MAKE me MAKE you get down, Tobi.' The little dog slid into tackling position too, its tongue sticking out of the side of its mouth and a goofy grin plastered across his muzzle. Hidan bore his teeth and ran at the dog, biting it on the throat and hurling it off the side of the bed, sending it yelping to the floor.

Nikoru shot up, gasping and looking around groggily. Hidan tensed and glanced up at her, but she fell backwards without a second thought, deep into sleep again. Well, at least they now knew she would be of no help to them or herself if someone ever broke in at night. Hidan glanced over the side of the bed, seeing Tobi jumping up against it and whimpering. 'Go play with your little blonde fuck buddy or something. Give me, like, ten minutes.' He growled and the orange dog paused, tilting its head as it let the words sink in, then yipping and bounding out of the room in search of the blonde puppy spoken of.

Hidan shook his head and looked back to the girl, getting up and walking over to sit between her legs. He looked over her mound, smirking at the sight of her folds beneath her panties; apparently they pulled very tightly against her skin when she had her legs twisted like this. Tilting his head he reached a paw up and padded at her for a moment, trying to figure out what to do without fingers. She whimpered and shifted a little, drawing her legs a bit closer together, straightening out the right one a little more, but that was about it. Now he leaned forward and nipped at the elastic that was pressed into the bend of her thigh. Putting one paw against her mound to steady himself he started to pull with short, quick, little tugs, growling quietly as he managed to get the evil fabric all the way over to the other side of her flesh.

He sat back and paused again, the tip of his pink tongue peeking out from between black gums and white teeth as he took in the sight of her. He got a much better view from this low, and it didn't strain his eyes either; he was the perfect height for something like this. He bent his head forward again, sniffing for a moment, her scent sending a shiver down his spine that surprised him. His tail started to wag a bit as he stepped closer and drug his tongue over the moistened flesh bared before him.

Nikoru moaned, turning her head this way and that as a sudden, building anxiousness within her interrupted her dreams. She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what was going on and what this strange feeling was. She needed to wake up, but it was so hard to leave such peacefulness; besides, this was kinda enjoyable. Finally her eyes fluttered open, confronted with the dark ceiling of her apartment's bedroom, but the feeling hadn't gone away. Matter of fact, it had gotten worse.

"Mmmnh...Wha...what...?" She leaned up on her elbows, wincing as her body tensed around the pleasure coursing through it. There was something between her legs...something...What the hell was going on? She blinked the thing into focus and saw that it was the silver dog...he was licking her. She dropped her head back with another moan, still not letting her mind wrap around what was going on.

Hidan glanced up at the girl, grinning slowly as he continued to lap up everything she was so easily offering him. Nikoru's eyes suddenly shot open again, he felt her body tense once more, only this time it had almost gone rigid. "You fucking sicko! Get off me!" She screeched, kicking him off the bed and into the wall, surprising him with that one.

"Fuck! That hurt, you stupid bitch!" He touched his forehead, gritting his teeth against the pain that was shooting through the back of his head, then glaring up at her. She had scrambled backwards on the bed, the sheets drug up and covering her from him as she stared with wide and horrified, but still slightly angry, eyes.

"It was supposed to! What the fuck do you think you were doing?" She threw her pillow at him and he caught it with a lazy arm, shaking his head lightly before slicking his hair back and looking up at her again, huffing.

"I was doing something nice, goddammit! This how you repay me?" He hurled the pillow back at her, but she swatted it into the wall, still glaring. He rose to his feet and brushed himself off, grumbling and muttering as he dropped his cloak to the floor around his feet.

"Nice? Nice? You were eating me out in fucking DOG form! How am I SUPPOSED to respond to something like that?" She slammed a fist on the bed and he scoughed with a smug smirk.

"You sure as hell were enjoying it though. Who knew you had a little dog fucker in you, babe." He winked and she let out a strangled cry of rage, gritting her teeth at him, like she was holding back an attack.

"YOU are an asshole. I want you out of my fucking bedroom. Get out NOW!" She threw the covers off herself and stood up, jamming her finger into his bare chest as she glared up at him. He only continued to grin though, his arms folded casually behind his head as he let her get everything off her chest. "I mean it! Get the fuck out!" She pushed him lightly, watching his features harden, but slowly he blinked them back into calmness, deciding to let that one go for now. After a moment he glanced down at her, a coy smile playing over his mouth as he did.

"Aww, but you were enjoying it so much...Don't you want me to finish it?" He smirked and ran the tip of his tongue over his lips, still able to taste her essence on them. She gave him an indignant look, shook thin strands of hair out of her face, backed up a step, and prepared to slap him. He caught her wrist though, shoving her back another step, steering her back towards the bed.

"Let go of me! I said I wanted you out of here!" He grabbed her other wrist mid-slap too. Now he shoved her onto the bed, straddling her as she started to kick and writhe beneath him.

"At least I asked nicely first." He hissed near her ear, causing her to stop her movements, her heart starting to pick up speed. Hidan smirked again, nipping at her earlobe while he enjoyed the feel of fear starting to overtake her. She wasn't terrified, not like when you rape someone you don't even know, not like the first time he had taken her. But, she was scared in the way that she didn't know what he was going to do to her; and for very good reason too. I mean, after all, he was an S-class criminal for many, many reasons.


	17. Escapades

"Escapades"

Nikoru felt a scream well behind the gag he had forced into her mouth. Her fingers flexed almost violently, as she tried to figure out what to do with the unstoppable pain and pleasure shooting through her. She looked over her shoulder, shaking her head and pleading to be let go as Hidan ran his hand down her spine and admired his handiwork. Tears were spilling out of her eyes and down her cheeks and she wasn't sure what they were coming from.

Yes, she liked this sort've thing. Yes, she thought he was attractive. No, he wasn't doing anything too horrible to her; yet. And no, he hadn't even really started yet. So why in the world was she crying so hard? Maybe because this all took her by surprise and she was completely at his mercy? That sounded like a good reason.

Hidan snorted a quiet laugh once more, looking at her small, rounded backside as it sat on display in the air for him. "Oh please, I only tied you up. Stupid bitch..." He left off muttering, running his finger between her folds teasingly before stepping back and starting to undo his pants. The hand prints he had left on her were reddening rather nicely; he wondered if she would tell her bitchy little friend if he cut her a little. He heard the soft click of claws near to him and glanced over at the door, seeing the blue dog staring up at him with forewarning in its eyes. He snorted, "Old man, you can't do shit to me."

Walking over to the door he nudged the dog in its broad chest with his foot, shoving it back a step and slamming the bedroom door shut, leaving the two of them in darkness. He walked back over to the girl, climbing onto the side of the bed behind her and smoothing a hand over the angry marks he had recently left; they almost seemed to glow. He could still hear her crying behind the gag and her breath was hitching more and more the farther she worked herself into a terrored frenzy. He grinned and shook his head, "Don't worry, babe, I'll give you something to cry about."

Nikoru's eyes widened as he drove into her again, forcing her body forwards, but pulling it back against himself at the same time. Her hands gripped at something unseen and useless in their binds behind her back and she bit hard on the cloth worked between her lips. He pulled back and slid in again, making her shut her eyes against the strange sensation taking over, something between a groan of pain and a moan of joy leaving her. He had her ankles bound tightly together too, basically forcing her legs shut, but keeping herself exposed. It hurt, it hurt alot worse than the first time in the shower, and she wondered how it wasn't hurting him too.

Hidan grabbed hold of the chords he had tied her hands together with, pulling her upper body into the air as he drove farther into her, burying himself to the hilt. She cried out, her head falling back as it started to swim with the sensations. He groaned, biting softly at the flesh between her shoulder blades as he started a fast pace, settling himself into one set of rythmic motions. "People are gonna think it's your first time if you keep screaming like that, bitch." He grinned, flexing his fingers on her hip before gripping down harder than before, intent on leaving even more bruises on her. She shook her head slowly, letting out a muffled moan, her fingers seeming to reach for him as they grasped blindly behind her back. This made him laugh aloud.

Kisame blinked and shook his head, tiredly turning away from the bedroom door. Itachi lifted his head from his paws again, 'She's fine. There's no need to worry.' Kisame jumped onto the couch beside him and sat heavily, looking down at the white fabric beneath him.

'He hurts her. Did you see the bruises from the other day?' He glanced at Itachi who let out a snort and settled his head back down, closing his eyes tiredly.

'Again, she enjoys it. You'll know when she doesn't want what he's offering.' And with that, the conversation died. Kisame glanced back at the door, unable to hear anything but movements and Hidan's voice. He looked down, seeing Tobi sitting by the coffee table again, staring at the door intently. He tilted his head and stood up, getting ready to go down and see why the little orange puppy always seemed so strangely intent on the two of them when they were together, but he stopped himself.

"Hidan!" The cry echoed loudly through the little apartment, making Kisame and a few of the others jerk their heads towards the door again, their ears perking as they tried to figure out the mixed tone in the call. Kisame shivered and sat down heavily again, flopping heavily against Itachi's side and burying his nose into the black dog's fur, pulling his ears down against his head with his big paws as he did.

It felt so weird to know what was going on in there and to hear her voice like that in his head. Like hearing your daughter have sex. He whimpered angrily, unable to get the noises out of his mind, but paused when he felt something on top of his head. He blinked and looked up, seeing Itachi's paw draped over his head and his bored, red eyes staring down at him.

'Come with me, Kisame.' Itachi got up and jumped off the couch, Kisame quickly following, his ears still pressed down to the sides of his head. Itachi turned into himself and stepped down into the genkan, opening the coat closet door and turning, gesturing for his dog partner to step inside. Kisame questioned, but stepped amidst the shoes and things littering the floor. "The noise won't reach you here." Itachi muttered and stepped inside with him, shutting the door before morphing back into an animal. He found a spot in a corner, the blackness swallowing his little body whole.

Kisame stumbled over, bumbling over shoes and things before finding himself almost on top of Itachi. He dropped down, half of his body draped across the smooth suede of what he thought to be the front of a boot. Itachi put his head on the back of Kisame's neck and sighed, resting a paw on his back as Kisame put his over sized head on one of Itachi's little paws and wrapped his curly tail around himself. There was just silence and the sound of their breathing now. He didn't have to say thank you, he knew that Itachi knew he was very content right now; and that was all that mattered.

Nikoru gasped for air, her lungs starting to burn as everything continued on. There was nothing to look at now, and she had stopped crying, her eyes would just roll into the back of her head every now and then. It was embarassing, but he couldn't see, and she couldn't control it. Hidan had taken the gag out, but put a blindfold on in its place, like he was working every one of her senses. She had her back pressed against the coolness of the wall now, her body sliding over the sand-like wallpaper as he continued to work her up and down. Her ankles were unbound, her legs now wrapped tightly around his waist, his strong hands roving over her hips and breasts.

She could hear him growling and groaning alongside of her moans and whimpers, making her wonder sometimes if he was still human or in dog form. His hands were rough, grasping and pushing, rolling her breasts hard against her chest before he would bite at them, pulling until she thought she might break. In all truth her body felt like it was giving out already, but her mind and her voice screamed for him to keep going, for him to keep finding ways to surprise and hurt her. She hated him so much for the way he treated her like some toy, but she loved him more than she knew what to do with.


	18. Morning Meetings

_~~**~~This is, by far, one of my favorite pieces. I LOVE the puppies in this piece. Well, both pieces, where they climb into the closet and this one where they get discovered lol~~**~~_

"Morning Meetings"

Hidan groaned and touched his forehead, opening his eyes to small rays of sunlight beginning to push themselves through the sliding glass door. He looked down to find the girl wrapped around him still, lying on top of him with a small smile of calm over her features. He shook his head, pushing her to the bed groughly and climbing out of it, stretching his tired muscles. Nikoru blinked and opened her eyes, coming face to face with Hidan's naked backside. She snorted a laugh and rolled over onto her other side, pulling the covers up over herself. He glanced over his shoulder at her, "What's so damned funny?" He growled, but she waved a tired hand over her small shoulder at him, shaking her head slowly before burying her smile into her pillow.

He grinned, turning and throwing himself on top of her, jerking the covers down to her knees before she the cry of surprise even left her lips. His fingers dove into her easily, his second hand pressing hard on her right thigh, keeping it down and her legs open. "H-Hidan, don't!" She yelped, sitting up and wrapping an arm around his neck, already panting.

"Tell me what was so fucking funny then." He bit at her throat and she moaned, shaking her head before pressing her cheek to the side of his head, wincing slightly.

"I-it hurts...! Not right now...!" She whined, but he pulled her lower body farther down, sliding her onto her back and pulling his fingers away, quickly replacing them with his length. Her eyes shot open and she hit his chest lightly before moaning and drawing her nails over his shoulder.

"What was so damned funny?" He growled once more, continuing to bite and nip at her throat, his hands already gripping and rolling her breasts. She wanted this, she wanted it every time he forced it on her, but her whole body was on fire.

"It hurts! Stop!" She begged, trying to push him away while her hips moved against his own involuntarily.

"Tell me!" He grinned, sitting up and grabbing hold of her legs, draping them over his shoulders, starting to drive in deeper and harder.

"Hidan, please!" She couldn't reach him any more, he was sitting just beyond her touch, so she tugged and pulled at the bedsheets beneath them. Her back arched, head driving back into the pillow as she moaned in want, almost pulling the sheets off the bed.

"You're such a slut."

Nikoru was already almost asleep again when Hidan climbed off the bed for a second time that morning. She groaned and rolled onto her side again, turning her back to him lazily. He looked at her over his shoulder one more time, lifting his brow and studying her curves before turning and shaking his head. "You need a fucking heater, you'll catch your death in here dammit." He jerked the covers up over her, pulling them over her shoulders as she gave a half moon smile and waved him away once again. He hit her shoulder lightly, grinning, before turning and grabbing his pants off the floor. He opened the bedroom door and stepped out, shutting it behind himself and walking to the shower, not noticing the house was empty.

Itachi blinked in the darkness of the room he was in. It was really warm in here, and soft...like the whole room was alive. But, where was he? Wasn't he supposed to be in the girls' house? Didn't he fall asleep on their couch? Where was he? He sat up quickly, looking around as his eyes strained to see through the pitch black that had hold of him. There was stuff everywhere, no smooth spot on the floor, not even the walls. Where in the hell had he found himself?

He whimpered, getting ready to change back into human form, when Kisame lifted his head and looked up at him. 'Another bad dream, Itachi-san?' Itachi looked down at him with wide eyes and suddenly the events of last night came flooding back to him. He relaxed visibly, his eyes drooping to that normal, bored look of his as he shook his head and glanced around.

'Sort've, Kisame, sort've.' Kisame nodded and rested his head back on Itachi's paws, nuzzling in and giving a quiet snort before drifting back off. Itachi looked down, feeling something pressing in on his other side, and seeing red fuzz. Movement to his left caught his eye and he quickly glanced over, seeing Kakuzu lift his brown head and stand, stretching lazily as he yawned. He was draped over some sneakers and started to claw and paw at them until he shifted them enough for him to lay down again and flop over onto his side. Had they all sought refuge in here last night?

The door opened and light flooded in, blinding him briefly. Hidan let out a loud scough as he looked down at all of them, catching eyes with Itachi. "Seriously? What kind of fuck fest did I miss out on last night?" He grinned as the others slowly started to get up and stretch. Itachi growled up at Hidan, but he held up a big hand, shaking his head. "Save it. Y'all are such fuckin' losers." The puppies started to bumble out of the closet one by one as he turned and stepped back up into the house, hurling himself down on the couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"Ugh, my head hurts so bad, un." Deidara shook his head, running fingers through his blonde tresses before sitting heavily in the little chair that offered the only other seating in the house.

"Get up, brat." He grumbled but moved, Sasori falling over in the chair and touching his temples too, Deidara propping on the arm to the chair.

"Tobi didn't get sleep...Tobi's body aches!" Tobi fell onto the floor, sitting cross-legged and whining before resting his head against Deidara's leg.

"Get off me, Tobi!" Deidara hit the top of the masked boy's head and he cried out, touching the sore with a gloved hand and whining.

"But, Sempai, Tobi's tired!" He whimpered, but Deidara scrubbed a hand down his face and grumbled.

"So is everyone else, un." Kakuzu walked over and sat heavily next to Hidan, cutting him a side glare with his muddy discolored eyes. Hidan grinned at him, cocking his head with his smirk.

"So, who'd you fuck last night? Or were you the one getting fucked, old man?" Kakuzu reached out and punched him in the arm, making him glare.

"No one got fucked but YOU last night, baka!" He barked loudly, hitting him upside the head for good measure.

"Alright, alright! Quite fucking hittin' me!" Hidan went to hit him back, but the brown skinned man caught his fist in his own, twisting it.

"Both of you stop, it's too early for this." Kakuzu glared, but released Hidan's pale hand and sank back into the couch. Itachi walked over with Kisame at his side, the men standing and surveying the rabble they called a team. "You'll have to start keeping your escapades during the day, Hidan. None of us got any sleep last night because of you and the girl." Itachi motioned to the closed bedroom door, but Hidan snorted and folded his arms behind his head casually, looking towards the door with closed eyes.

"That's y'all's fuckin' problem, not mine." Itachi narrowed his eyes, but Kisame stepped forward.

"We'll talk about this later, why don't we focus on getting some food?" He turned and started towards the stove, Itachi letting the subject drop for now.


	19. Killing Time

"Killing Time"

Hotaru yawned lazily, stretching in her seat before slumping again. Kiba paused scratching the top of Akimaru's head to glance over at her, lifting a brow as he did. "What's up with you, babe?" She blinked, turning to glance at him while she stroked Zetsu's back. He was passed out in her lap, his body warm and soft against her thighs and hand.

"I'm bored. We're all just sitting here...it's so quiet and dull." Kiba laughed loudly, making her eyes light up a little and a small smile catch the corners of her lips.

"For once you're telling me I'm too quiet?" She nodded with a slow grin.

"We havn't done anything in ages! I'm bored! Let's get something going, DO something, liven things up a bit! I just want to get off my lazy ass!" He laughed and shook his head, running a hand through his hair calmly.

"Then get up and go on a walk. No one's making you sit there." She frowned and he smiled, getting up and stretching himself, his muscles aching a bit from the lack of use. It had been a bit of a slow period for all of them. No one had gotten missions or assignments lately and he didn't teach classes like Shika did, so he didn't even have kids to keep him entertained for a bit. She was right, they needed to get moving before they lost their edge.

He smirked, glancing over his shoulder at her as Akimaru got up and nudged him in the back of the knee with his nose, able to smell his thoughts on him and getting excited. "Why don't we train for a bit?" She looked up at him quickly, her eyes suddenly bright and wild with the notion of the challenge.

"Really? Like we use to?" She sat up a little straighter, shifting and tensing enough to wake Zetsu up, making him blink lazily up at her. He sniffed the air, trying to read what was going on, trying to decide if he needed to move and wake up, or if he could settle back down again.

Kiba nodded, turning to face her and putting a hand on his hip, "Been a long time since I've seen yah fight, babe. And an even longer time since you've seen me." He smirked as she let a small smirk of her own curl the corner of her mouth up playfully.

"Bet you're nothing against me anymore." She scoughed at his words, lifting Zetsu out of her lap and setting him on the floor lightly, tossing hair over her shoulder as she straightened back out again.

"Hmmm, I'll make you eat those words." Akimaru gave a soft bark and she glanced down at him, furrowing her brows a little, then looking back at Kiba. "He's got a point. It's not fair." She pointed to the giant of a dog and Kiba thought for a moment.

"We never used him before. He can just sit on the sidelines like he use to." He shrugged and Akimaru nodded that he understood, but she shook her head, giving a light pout as she folded her arms over her chest.

"No, that's not fair either. Then I wouldn't be getting the full force of your attacks as we trained, it would be pointless." He laughed again.

"We'll do just what we use to, babe, no worries. Just fighting. No genkis, no jutsus, just fighting. Hard core, hand to hand," He grinned again, "just like you like." She nodded and beamed, satisfied now with his answer.

"Lemme go put on play clothes. I'll meet you out back." With that she ran upstairs, Zetsu hovering at Akimaru's feet instead of following after her. He couldn't get his little body up the steps, not without taking forever and exerting so much effort he wanted to cry, so he stayed down with the boys unless she carried him up with her.

He flopped over on the big dog's paws, still sleepy from the tired and quiet atmosphere in the house that still clung around the edges like a hazy fog just starting to lift. Akimaru growled and looked down at him, but he gave a soft whine, not even looking up at the animal, then closed his eyes and drifted back off. Kiba shook his head, muttering something as Akimaru did the same thing, deciding to let the creature stay where it was for the moment.

Hotaru bounded into the backyard excitedly, seeing Kiba already standing there in the frozen winter sunlight, stretching to warm himself up. He paused and glanced over at her, seeing her bouncing in place in front of him, holding a kunai tightly in her grasp. "You should warm up, babe, it's been a while for both of us." She shook her head though, sending her hair everywhere in fragrant waves.

"You don't get to warm up before battle, why should you get to warm up before a false battle?" A golden light was shining in her huge, emerald eyes as she continued to regard him. He thought about this, seeing her point and nodding, then pointing to the pack strapped to her bare thigh.

"Weapons?" She nodded viciously, too eager to get everything started. She loved to fight, but she loved even more to sparr and wrestle with Kiba; it was something she had never gotten over from when they were dating.

"Only kunais and shurikens though, maybe sinbone, but no jutsus, genkais, blah, blah, blah. You know." She waved it off dismissivly and he nodded, and gestured to the kunai glinting in her gloved grasp.

"You gonna start with one out? Come on, I wanted to-" She cut him off, slipping the knife into the pack without looking, just wanting to please him and get started.

"Ready now?" She bit her lip, flexing her fingers, letting her gloves creak as they got use to the movement again. He laughed, tossing his head back and baring his canines at her.

"I guess I have to be, you're gonna have a fuckin' heart attack here soon if I don't, huh?" She nodded, shifting her sandaled feet softly in the dirt patch they stood in, anxiety drawing each muscle in her body taught as a piano wire. He slid a foot back, slowly lifting his hands in front of himself, tossing shaggy hair out of his big eyes, still grinning. "Alright, one, two, thre-" Again she failed to let him finish.

With a shrill cry of joy she lunged forward, hurling herself at him, her leg arcing and body spinning before he honestly understood what was going on. He blocked his face, managing to block the round house with a bit of luck, then shoved her backwards, stepping back himself and blinking. "You can't do that!" He laughed and she did too, bouncing on her toes, still flexing her fingers, tossing hair over her shoulder once more.

"Since when did battles start when you expect them, Kiba-baby? Keep on your toes, or I'll mop the floor with you!" She laughed, bouncing and running towards him again. This time he was ready for her.

He lunged forward too, ducking beneath the punch she sent towards him, coming up and bringing one beneath her chin in a vicious upper cut. She screeched, her teeth snapping together and body falling backwards a bit before she managed to catch herself, shaking her head and touching her bleeding lip. She glanced at the blood on her hand, then at him, both panting softly already. "Sonva' bitch..." She hissed in slow ebbing surprise. She shook her hand, and bolted forward again, gritting her teeth as he lifted another fist for her and she lift her own.


	20. Walkies

"Walkies"

Nikoru slid two rhinestone barrettes into her hair, sweeping her thin bangs back to the side of her head. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, backed up from the vanity to check herself in the mirror, then nodded and went to the genkan, popping open the closet door. "Hey, guys, I'm going out for a bit. I've gotta pick up dinner and I'm gonna go see Hotaru for a second." She called out, getting a few barks in reply as she pulled on boots. Suddenly there was a cloaked man standing in her peripheral, watching her very carefully. She blinked and turned, holding onto the edge of the closet door for support as she tugged up the zipper on her boot. "What's up?" She let the tip of her tongue stick out of the corner of her mouth and one eye close with the effort of trying to get the zipper to shut all the way at the top.

"You can't go out alone. The same applies for you as Hotaru." Itachi leaned against the wall calmly as he spoke to her, but she shrugged.

"Fine, you wanna go with me?" She stood up straight and shut the closet door, turning to face him with a bright, calm smile of her own.

"Huh-uh, I'M going. I'm sick of being cooped up in this fuckin' tiny ass apartment." Hidan shoved past Itachi and grabbed Nikoru's tiny hand, jerking her towards himself and pointing to his feet. "What am I doin' for shoes?" She lifted her brows, Itachi doing the same behind her.

"You don't need them. If you go, you'll be going in dog form." Itachi answered before she could, but she nodded to show she was going to say basically the same thing.

"Like hell I am! I'm so fucking sick of being a goddamn dog!" Hidan snarled, turning his anger on Itachi, who seemed bored with it, honestly.

"They're still looking for us, you cannot go out like that. You're too suspicious, especially with the girl." He gestured to Nikoru who blushed lightly, but nodded slowly. Hidan looked between the two of them, his eyes hardening and narrowing, his lips setting into a thinner and thinner line of rage. Nikoru reached out and lightly touched his arm.

"You don't have to go. I can take Itachi with me and you can just go next time, when it'll be okay for you to go out in human form." He ripped his arm from her and she pulled her hand into her chest in some surprise.

"I'm fucking goin'." He became a dog again and she sighed with some relief, looking down at him as he sat impatiently at her feet, his tail thumping in an annoyed fashion on the concrete floor.

She shook her head, "You can be such a pain in the ass sometimes." She turned back to Itachi and everyone else, who were either ignoring Hidan's little fit or watching with bored eyes. "I'll be back in a bit, y'all just be good. I'll bring some dinner home too. We're doing okonomiaki tonight." She pulled her scarf up over her mouth and nose and opened the door, starting out into the bitter cold. No snow on the ground today, just a light dusting of frost and a bitter wind that made your eyes sting.

Hidan shook his head, snorting the cold out of his sensitive nose and trudging along side of Nikoru. He glanced up, wondering how in the world she wasn't freezing her ass off. She had on a thin, light red shirt beneath a pale blue coat, the over sized white buttons done up the front. A giant red scarf was wrapped around her throat and pulled up over her mouth and nose, its end trailing behind her in the wind like a banner. She had on a darker blue, pleated skirt that hung high above her knees.

White stockings were pulled up to her knees, leaving only thin strips of flesh visible, though they were already turning red from the biting cold. Red boots covered her feet, stopping mid calf. All of it topped off with red mittens and two little barrettes of pale blue rhinestones. In a way she reminded him of an early christmas, but at the same time she just looked like a child dressed for winter.

She glanced down at him, her arms linked together behind her back as they walked down the mostly deserted street. "Why are you staring at me like that?" He snorted again, looking away in a sulky fashion and she giggled, "Oh, I see. You're jealous." He looked up at her like she had gone mad, wondering where she had come to that conclusion. "Well, we can stop into one of the shops and I can probably pick you up a red ribbon that'll match me. That way you don't have to be so jealous." She beamed and paused, kneeling down to muff at his face with her fuzzy mittens, "We could put it around your thick little neck." He pulled away, growling a bit, causing her to giggle once more as she rose to her feet and continued on.

"But, seriously, are you alright? Or do you want me to carry you?" He blinked at her, his tail betraying his thoughts as he seriously considered the idea. He was one of the larger dogs, so he'd be a bit of a load for her to haul around town, and it would look a little odd. Then again, she toted Tobi's dumb ass all over creation without any trouble. He shook his head though, his pride not allowing anything like that. She shrugged, "Suit yourself. Just don't bitch to me when your feet blister." He looked down at his feet, then up at her, baring his teeth in a small growl as he recalled telling her he would need shoes to go out with her. If his feet blistered he'd throttle her.

Nikoru slowed when she came to Kiba's apartment door. She pulled back the top of her mitten, revealing half gloved fingers beneath, then she knocked loudly. She waited for a moment, Hidan sitting heavily against her boot, groaning at the thought of having to wait to be let into the warmth. They had trudged all the way across fucking town, and all he could smell were dogs, damned, dirty dogs. This had better be a really important visit. Nikoru knocked again, tilting her head and backing up a little, upsetting Hidan from his spot against her, causing him to huff.

She backed up a few paces, looking up at the windows and wondering if she'd be able to see a form or a light, but she saw nothing. She walked back to the door and knocked one more time, "They have to be here...I mean, where would they go on a day like today?" She glanced down at Hidan, but he grunted and looked away, grumbling something beneath his breath. She nudged him with the toe of her boot and got ready to say something when she heard a loud cry, something like a war cry.

Quickly she and Hidan both looked up and around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from and what was going on, then the door opened. She spun back, seeing Shino looking at her from behind his tall collar and blue blocker glasses. "Ah, Nikoru-chan. I assume you're here for, Hotaru-chan?" His voice was deep and solemn, his form bored and calm as he stood holding the door open. In a way he reminded her a little of Itachi. She nodded, smiling and pulling her scarf down to reveal baby pink lips.

"Yeah, I thought I'd stop in and see her, maybe talk her into coming home." Shino glanced down at Hidan, who glared back up at him. He lifted a brow, then looked at Nikoru.

"You have a new friend?" She nodded brightly and absently.

"I found him behind the ramen shop." He nodded slowly.

"Well..." He muttered for a moment, still studying Hidan, then he glanced back up at her. "Sorry, how rude of me. She's in the back, she and Kiba are sparring for the afternoon." Nikoru let her surprise show, then shook her head and giggled, pulling the tops of her mittens back over her fingers.

"Should've guessed. Thank you, Shino-kun." He nodded and shut the door quietly as she turned, pulling her scarf up over her mouth and nose again. Hidan whined as he turned to follow her, making her glance down at him as they began to tromp through brittle, brown grass to the other side of the building. "Yeah, we'll be outside for a while, depending on when they got started. I really will hold you and carry you if you want, I don't mind. And you'd be a bit warmer." She paused to wait for his answer, but he simply turned his nose up at her and kept walking. She scoughed with raised brows, "Careful, if it rains you might fuckin' drown." She grumbled lightly, following after him, the cries and groans getting louder and louder.


	21. Paying a Visit

"Paying a Visit"

Nikoru paused on the sidelines to the yard, seeing Akimaru sitting by and reffing, so going over to him. He barked a greeting to her, or so she thought, and she waved lightly in hello. Saddling up next to him she shivered, crossing her arms over her breast and moving as close to the giant as he would allow for body warmth; he didn't seem to mind sharing though. She heard yipping and saw Zetsu running around at her's and Akimaru's feet, bouncing all over the bigger Hidan, tugging at his ears and biting at his tail. Hidan growled, shoving the little dog off and settling between Akimaru and Nikoru, leaning against her boot once more.

He looked up at the over sized dog, who looked down at him with narrowed and distrusting eyes. Hidan snorted and so did Akimaru, both looking away with disgusted shakes of their heads. Zetsu bounced over between Akimaru's big paws again, settling on top of them and against his belly like a baby penguin. Akimaru expressed upset at this, but did nothing to remove the little animal, who did nothing to remove itself. Nikoru laughed softly to herself, shaking her own head, then looked up at the battling going on in front of her, watching Hotaru with bright and proud eyes.

She wasn't sure how Hotaru hadn't caught pneumonia with what she had on, but she guessed moving like she was had been keeping her warm. She had on short gym shorts, rolled down once or twice around the top, the legs clinging tightly to her upper thighs and backside, despirately trying to stay down enough to cover her ass from the world. A tight, white tank top with spaghetti straps clung to her breasts and stomach, falling lower and lower the more violently she moved. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, curls straying and streaming over her fist sized silver hoop earrings. On her little feet were her black, standard issue ninja sandals. She had on her black, fingerless gloves with the thick silver plating over the knuckles, and she had a kunai pack strapped to her bare thigh.

Hotaru backed up, turning to the side and holding her kunai out to Kiba, grinning excitedly at him, blood dried in the corner of her mouth and beginning to flake in the cold. "Come on!" Kiba ran for her, barking a laugh at her taunts as she turned to block him, catching his kunai with the blade of her own. He had anticipated this, throwing his free hand up and slashing for her face with a second blade. She cried out, bending backwards and exposing her body to his own; he took the advantage and dove for the kill.

She dropped to the ground though, lashing her leg out and taking his knees from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned, feeling her weight atop him in seconds, her blade at his throat as she held his head back, panting heavily and grinning in triumph. "Gotch'yah!" He coughed, giving a small nod of his head, waiting for her to get off his arms and let him up. After a moment of reveling in her victory she climb off, going to slip the winning blade back into its pack, turning her back to the still downed Kiba.

Akimaru tensed at Nikoru's side, making her glance at him, then back at the scene unfolding before her. Kiba lunged up, striking Hotaru with a knife hand to the side, sending her to the ground easily. "That's a foul, you bastard!" Nikoru shouted out, Akimaru growling at her side in agreement, or so she thought. Kiba laughed, turning to look over his shoulder at them and toss them a grin, but Hotaru struck his knee again, this time hitting the one closest to her from behind with a knife hand of her own. He dropped to kneel beside her, but hurried to scramble back up, by this time Hotaru had gotten up and quickly moved away to regain herself.

He staggered to his own feet, tiredly looking at her as she clutched at her side. "Still wanna keep goin'?" She nodded, flexing her grip on the knife before running towards him. He lifted his arms, crossing them lightly in front of himself in a block. She feinted a punch and he dodged, sending her into the air quickly. She did a back flip in front of him, propelling herself off his stomach in the process, kicking him in the jaw as she went.

He snarled, moving behind her as she landed, grabbing her arm and putting the kunai to her own throat. Hotaru grinned, stepping on his foot, elbowing him in the stomach, then punching him in the nose. At that Kiba gave up. He staggered backwards, holding onto his face as blood spilt from one nostril, Hotaru's punch was a little quick and off the mark.

Akimaru ran over, nudging Kiba in the side, sniffing for internal weaknesses. Hotaru put her kunai away, walking over and calmly touching Kiba's shoulder, "Sorry...too into the moment there." She blushed and gently lifted his head, lightly holding his chin up with two fingers, turning his face this way and that so she could examine it. "I don't think I broke anything necessarily...I think it's just bleeding..." She muttered, more to herself than to him, but he pulled his face from her grasp with a casual smile.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, y'all back off." Kiba brushed it away, lightly shoving both of them back with a soft laugh as he wiped the blood away on his jacket sleeve. Hotaru shook her head, sobering up from the adrenalin rush.

"Come on, inside, we'll wash you up." She took his hand and they started inside, catching sight of Nikoru and the two puppies at the doorway. Hotaru's eyes lit up at the sight of her best friend's smile. "Nikoru-chan! When did you get here?" She beamed, hugging her briefly with one arm before escorting her into the house as well, the three dogs following behind.

"Don't tell me you didn't see me, Hotaru-chan. You must be slipping if you didn't." Nikoru giggled, glad for the warmth of the kitchen as they stepped into it and Akimaru shut the door with his tail.

"I saw you, but I didn't exactly register you getting here." Hotaru told her over her shoulder, walking Kiba to the sink and wetting a cloth. Nikoru walked over to the table, shedding her jacket, scarf, and mittens, dumping them in a chair and sitting down.

"We'll you both looked great, how long have y'all been at it?" She smiled, watching Hotaru take care of Kiba's nose, gently dabbing at it and wiping at it as he tried to brush her off and sucked in sharp breaths of air every now and then. They still acted like a couple sometimes.

"For a while...I lost track though. What time is it?" Kiba gave one last swipe and Hotaru rolled her eyes a final time, dropping the cloth to the counter. "Big baby." She huffed and he laughed, picking up the cloth and dabbing at the corner of her lip, causing her to close one eye in pain.

"Look who's talking." He muttered quietly, watching her lips as he cleaned them, running the cloth over the whole of her bottom lip just to see it glisten in the light like it did when she put on gloss. His free hand rested on the side of her face, gently holding it still for him to clean her up, but now his thumb deftly ran over her mouth, parting her lips a bit farther as the rest of his body stilled. Hotaru watched his eyes glaze and soften, her own softening as the hand she had on the counter shifted a bit, threatening to betray her want to touch him like he was her. Nikoru watched them for a moment, then decided to step in, wanting to make sure she nor Kiba had to put up with one of Hotaru's "Sasuke-Attacks" later on tonight.

"So, Hotaru-chan, what are you making for dinner? It smells great in here!" She beamed, getting up and walking past them, shaking Hotaru's shoulder lightly as she walked to the pot on the stove. Both of them blinked, then quickly looked away, Kiba quickly turning and dumping the cloth back on the counter as Hotaru spun to face Nikoru and the stove; both of them blushing fiercely.

"Umm...I'm making..." She touched her forehead, laughing softly and putting a hand on Nikoru's shoulder, as if to feel a neutral presence in the room. Nikoru just beamed and waited.

"Curry." Kiba mumbled, walking to the table and dropping into his chair. Akimaru walked over, putting a paw on Kiba's lap and looking up at him, making the boy put a hand absentmindedly on the animal's head as he studied Hotaru's backside.

"Yeah, curry. I'm thinking about doing miso soup too...it's so cold out I think it'll go good tonight." She smiled gently, brushing hair out of her eyes before doing the same for Nikoru.

"I might stay for dinner then!" Nikoru giggled and Hotaru did too, nodding her head.

"You can if you want, I'm sure Kiba and Shino won't mind." She turned to Kiba for support.

"Nah, go ahead and stay, we like the company. Been a long time since we've seen you girls." Kiba waved a hand and grinned, Nikoru blushing lightly and glancing away, nodding her head. Something about Kiba's grin made any girl blush a little, probably because it was so ungaurded and honest.

"I may..." She smiled at the thought of eating with a happy Hotaru and mutual friend again.


	22. Suspicious Offenses

"Suspicious Offenses"

Hidan slammed his body heavily into Nikoru's thin leg, making her look down, then laugh softly again. "Ah, but this little guy might not like it. I think he wants to get home." Kiba frowned as he watched Nikoru kneel in front of Hidan and begin to muff his ears. Zetsu ran over and jumped at Hidan, tugging at one of his wildly flapping ears again and barking excitedly, making the girls giggle. Hotaru stooped over and picked Zetsu up, shaking her head.

"I'm sure Hi-umm, he, doesn't like that, little buddy. Don't antagonize him." She tapped his nose, biting at her lower lip as she caught her almost slip up. Nikoru stood up, reaching out and petting Zetsu on the head lightly as he put a paw on her hand, licking at her palm and fingertips.

"He looks so diffrent somehow...almost like he's gotten bigger in the past two days!" Hotaru's eyes widened as Nikoru said this and Kiba turned to look at her with a scowl.

"Hotaru...I thought you said you found him behind the ramen shop on the way over." The girls turned to look at him, Nikoru's eyes widening too as she realized what she had done.

"I-I umm...I did. I just...Nikoru..." Hotaru bumbled over her words, not sure how to work this one out. Hidan dropped to the floor, covering his nose with his paws and groaning.

"She came back to the house." Nikoru piped up and they both glanced at her. Hidan snorted a bit, making Nikoru nudged him with her boot to shut him up, he growled and glared up at her from beneath a paw. "See, she found a few more too...they all started to follow her and she didn't want to bring them all here and impose even more so she came back to the house to talk to me about it." Hotaru nodded quickly, looking from Nikoru to Kiba with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, even though we were fighting I told her that we couldn't leave them out in the cold and to bring them in. She said she didn't mind, but I still didn't want to be there that night, so I went ahead and came back here." Kiba lifted a brow, still suspicious. Hotaru felt a little better now that Nikoru had gotten her started and she had gained steam, but they were still treading dangerous waters.

"Why'd you bring just that one and tell me about just that one then?" Hidan and Zetsu looked up at Hotaru now, wondering if she was going to continue sounding as stupid as before and need Nikoru to bail her out again.

"Well...he wouldn't quit following me and I felt bad, so I brought him along. And, I didn't think it was need to know information about the others, honestly...plus, I just didn't want to think about Nikoru or home at that moment. So, I didn't mention her or them. And here we stand before you today." She gestured to Nikoru who nodded. Kiba and Akimaru regarded them both with suspicious eyes for a long time, then Kiba shook his head and held up a hand, rising to his feet and walking over with a tired expression.

"It's fine, whatever. Just be careful, dogs can be difficult sometimes." He took this chance to look at Hidan who gave him a scowl; this puppy rubbed him the wrong way, much more than the black and white one did.

"Tell me about it." Nikoru giggled and rubbed the back of her head, reaching out and playfully pushing at Hotaru's shoulder as she giggled nervously and nodded. Suddenly Hotaru frowned, reaching out and taking hold of Nikoru's hand, pulling it closer to her and staring at it. Nikoru frowned too, "What is it, Hotaru-chan? Do I have something on me?" She started to pull away to see too, but Hotaru wouldn't let go.

"Nikoru...what happened to your wrist...?" She slowly looked up at her friend as she tilted her head in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Hotaru? Nothing's wrong." She laughed quietly, running her hand through the hair on the back of her neck again, but Hotaru held her wrist down between all of them, jerking her sleeve up to her elbow, for all of them to see. There were brown and black bruises roping around her wrist, and Hotaru was pretty sure the other looked like it too. Now that she looked, Nikoru had a high collared shirt on, but she thought she could see a small brown bruise peeking from the edge of the collar there also, and they ran all up and down her arm at odd angles and places.

Kiba laughed, only looking at the thin arm in front of him. "Hey, did you manage to garner a mission without any of us knowing, Nikoru-chan? And go by yourself?" He grinned, but she quickly shook her head as Hotaru's eyes narrowed in suspicion, watching the blue eyes in front of her for some kind of tell.

"No, no! I would never go on a mission without Hotaru-chan! She's my partner!" She laughed nervously again, wrenching her arm from Hotaru's grasp and hitting her elbow on the stove, gritting her teeth against the pain and gripping her arm quickly. "I just...just fell is all." She hissed, forcing a smile at them.

Hidan snorted again, giving a quiet smirk at their feet, Nikoru nudging him with her boot again, only this time a bit harder. He turned and bit the tip of her boot this time, snarling menacingly. "Oh piss off, will you?" Nikoru barked loudy, kicking him away a few paces. He started to run for her shoe again, mouth opened, but Akimaru quickly slid in front of him, freezing him in his tracks with his imposing size and snarl.

"I don't think you girls need to keep this one. He's real aggressive, almost rabid." Kiba shook his head, moving the girls away from Akimaru and the snarling dog.

"No, unfortunately he's not." Hotaru grumbled, shaking her head tiredly as Kiba lead them to the table.

"He's just angry and retarded." Nikoru muttered, sitting down heavily and pulling her sleeve down again.

"I don't want him in here if he's acting like that." Kiba motioned for Akimaru to herd the dog outside and the older dog started to do so. Zetsu was barking wildly in Hotaru's grasp, wriggling to get free, clawing at her arm and starting to gnaw lightly at it.

"There's no need, Kiba. Akimaru, please stand down. He's fine." Hotaru sat Zetsu on the floor, the little dog flying into the slightly larger gray dog, tackling it from the side. Hidan and Zetsu began to fight, standing on hind legs and grappling as they snarled and tore at each others faces and throats. Akimaru stepped aside, looking to Kiba for guidance, right now just making sure they didn't get too close to the humans.

"You really want that shit in your house? He has massive dominance issues and could turn on you as fast as he turned on that one." Kiba gestured towards the dogs, Hidan having pinned Zetsu's head to the floor and the little dog flailing wildly about underneath the big paw. He managed to wriggle free, diving and biting Hidan's leg hard enough to draw blood, but Hidan threw him off and ran for him, both locking in a stale mate again. For Zetsu being so much smaller than Hidan, he was certainly giving him a run for his money.

"What are we supposed to do? This is the first time he's fought with one of them, he's generally just pissy." Nikoru muttered, Hotaru shaking her head in slight embarrassment. Thank god Kiba didn't know she had basically lived with these dogs for a week now, he would think he had taught her nothing in the past.

"Let me take him. I'll get him in shape in a few days." Kiba motioned for Akimaru to step in, which he did gladly. He pinned Hidan to the floor easily, snarling in his face, biting at his muzzle as Hidan did the same thing. Zetsu attacked Akimaru's legs, biting and drawing beads of blood, causing Akimaru to turn on him and pin him. Hidan jumped up and launched into Akimaru's back, all three dogs now battling. Kiba moved forward to protect his friend, but Hotaru was faster.

She ripped Zetsu off the floor and trapped him under her arm, then grabbed Hidan by the scruf of the neck and hurled him towards Nikoru, causing him to slam into the table leg with a light yelp. "Baka!" Hidan scrambled up and ran for her, but Nikoru caught him and pinned him to her lap. "Go home! You're an embarrassment to animals and humans alike! You should be fucking put DOWN for the way you're acting!" She shouted, pointing to the back door and glaring at Hidan as he continued to growl and snarl, but stilled himself. Nikoru slowly rose to her feet, still holding onto the fang baring Hidan.

"I'll take him home...I'll just see you later, Hotaru-chan. Sorry." She mumbled quietly, some how managing to get into her jacket and accessories again without losing her grip on the big dog.

"It's not you, Nikoru-chan...just..." Hotaru touched her forehead tiredly as Nikoru headed for the back door, smiling lightly over her shoulder.

"No, I understand. Don't worry, he'll get his when he gets home. See y'all later." She left and Hotaru dropped Zetsu to the floor, then flopped into a chair herself, putting her head in her hands.

"This is proving to be a bigger problem than I expected." She grumbled, sniffing lightly as she recalled the marks on Nikoru's arms and neck. She knew those marks. And she had a damned good idea of who had given them to her. Now to decide if they were willing or not.


	23. Timid Starts

_~~**~~Right, so, if you remember back from "Zetsu's Favorable Idea" Hotaru was giving thought to sleeping with Kiba. So, I never wrote it out, but she actually does sleep with Kiba. It basically just sort've happens and though they don't say it to each other, they kinda think to themselves that it won't ever happen again...~~**~~_

"Timid Starts"

Kiba walked over and put a hand on her back, rubbing in small, slow circles. She relaxed visibly beneath his hand, keeping her face buried to avoid his eyes. "You need to go home with her. I don't want her alone with a dog like that." Kiba knelt down beside her and she turned her face to him, sighing heavily again.

"I know, I don't either...I'm just not ready to go home yet." She murmured, reaching out and brushing bangs out of his eyes and off his forehead into a side sweep. She loved to do it, but didn't like how it looked on him, he looked better with that messy hair of his. He smiled lightly, his hand still resting warmly on her back.

"Well, you can take a shower first." He closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek, wondering why he had suggested something like that of all things. She gave a breathy laugh, her fingers straying over one of his closed eyes and down the upside down triangle inked on his cheekbone. He opened his eyes to look at her again, seeing her cheeks turning pink, even as she smirked knowingly.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He tilted his head at her words, but closed his eyes and dropped them in admittance after a while.

"Can't help it. I wasn't ready to give you up yet...and guess I'm still not." It was the first time he had told her that. The first time he had admitted he gave her up. The first time he had told her he still loved her. It had been so long...so many years...and it felt so good to get it off his chest finally; even if it got him no where. To his surprise she leaned forward and put her lips to his forehead, holding them there for a long moment before pulling back so he could look up at her and decide what was going on in her mind. She smiled lightly again, her hand falling to rest on his shoulder.

"I honestly was telling myself the other night was just an accident...that it happened simply because it happened...And it would never happen again..." She glanced away, but kept smiling. He waited for her to finish with baited breath, "I guess...I still have feelings for you too...I don't think I ever honestly got over the loss of you either." He beamed, unable to hold back that famous grin of his, and wrapped his arms around her neck, rising to do so. She gasped in surprise, but hugged him back after a moment. "I...I think we should take it slow though...I'm not ready to give up hope on Him...and I'm not ready to launch myself into another relationship. I don't want to hurt you again, Kiba." She murmured, fingering his shoulder blades and muscles through his shirt, hugging him tightly.

He pulled back a little, still beaming, "I'm just glad you're letting me back on the board." She laughed softly, both of them putting their foreheads together and giggling like they hadn't in a long time. Not since the academy.

"Let's go take your shower." She murmured, slowly standing and taking his hand, leading him into the hall and up the stairs with a smile. It felt good to be honest with herself again. She was scared, and so was he, that she knew. They wanted this so badly, but she just wasn't quite ready to let go of the past yet, sure that as soon as she did it would come back to bite her in the ass. She was going to try and make this work though. She was going to try and listen to that small voice she hadn't listened to since Kiba had first left her. She wanted to be happy again...and he always had made her happy...so happy.

"You sure you don't want me to come over there with you? You sure you can handle it?" Kiba followed her to the door, lugging her bag on his shoulder as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. She rolled her eyes, but smiled brightly, nodding her head one more time as Zetsu bounced at her feet and scratched at the door, eager to go home and see the others.

"I'm sure, I'm sure. He's just a dog. I handled it earlier, I can handle it again." She turned to face him, stepping down into the genkan and pulling on her knee high boots again.

"Yeah, but you said you had even more of them waiting on you. What if they all get into it?" He waited for her to stand and pull her gloves on to hand her the bag. She laughed and slung it over her shoulder.

"Stop trying to find excuses to come home with me!" He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck a bit, sticking his other hand in his pocket as he blushed lightly at being found out. "I'll be fine. Nikoru will be fine. WE'LL be fine. I'll call you if I need you before tomorrow, okay?" She slung the bag over her shoulder and reached out, touching his arm to make him look to her again. He nodded and smiled lightly.

"I'm almost worried to let you go again...like yah won't come back..." She laughed and put one foot on the raised walkway, lifting up long enough to kiss him lightly. He wrapped his arms around her though, pulling her into himself. They pulled back when Zetsu started to scratch at their legs wildly, yipping and yelping to be let out. Hotaru sighed tiredly, but kept her smile.

"I'll see you soon. Tell Shino I'm sorry I didn't get to say good-bye and that I'll be stopping by soon to give his mother her return gift. And...behave yourself." He laughed loudly at that, watching her go to the door and turn the handle, smiling over her shoulder at him.

"Bye, babe. Call me if you need me." He grinned and tossed her a wave as she opened the door and Zetsu shot out into the yard and onto the street.

"Bye, Kiba-baby. I'll talk to you soon!" She blew him a kiss, then walked out and shut the door behind herself quietly. Kiba sighed, still grinning as he studied the door, her scent still lingering in the air. He looked down at Akimaru, who sat down and looked up at him with big eyes, his tail thumping lightly on the floor in baited excitement.

"Yeah, buddy...me too. But, I think it might work this time." Kiba muffed his head, turning and walking into the kitchen where Hotaru had left the food cooking for them still. Her scent lingered every where, like she was still there. "Not like we gotta worry about that bastard showing up again, at least." He scoughed and Akimaru snorted an agreement, both of them laughing along side it.


	24. Bickering Matches

"Bickering Matches"

Zetsu got to the front door before Hotaru did. He had been bouncing around all over the place the whole walk home, refusing with all of his little heart to let her put him into her pocket. She finally decided if she could see him then he was fine. She walked up tiredly, opening the door as he scratched to get inside, his body wriggling through the crack before she could really open the door the whole way for him to get in. "Impatient little bugger." She grumbled, walking into the house and shutting the door behind herself. She dumped her bag, then leaned against the closet and started to pull her boots off. She glanced up, not seeing Nikoru on the couch or hearing the shower running.

"Nikoru-chan! If you're in the bed this early in the afternoon I'm gonna punch you!" She laughed as she said this, the others having run over to her and bouncing at her legs and feet, tugging at her shoelaces and nipping at her fingers. "Hey, y'all, hey. I'll get started on dinner soon as I get comfortable." She tossed her boots in the closet and stepped up into the house, turning and snatching her bag away from the orange dog, who was sniffing it viciously. "It's none of your business." She muttered, then turned, seeing Nikoru standing in front of their bedroom with bright red cheeks and tousled hair.

Hotaru lifted a brow as Nikoru quickly mussed down her hair and laughed nervously, shifting from foot to socked foot. "H-hey, Hotaru-chan...! What are you doing home so early? I thought you were gonna stay another day at Kiba's..." The door was shut behind her and she was fidgeting with her hand behind her back, touching the handle to the door anxiously. Hotaru turned her head to the side a little, glancing around to see what was going on, what was out of place that was making her so nervous, then looked at her again with narrowed eyes, a light smile flickering in them. It was rare she caught Nikoru doing something embarrassing or wrong, she almost wanted to revel in this.

"He sent me home to make sure the "rabid dog" didn't get out of hand with you...What're you hiding in the bedroom, Nikoru?" She lifted her brow again, dumping her bag on the floor one more time and putting her free hand on her hip.

"Huh? Oh! N-nothing! Really! Just umm...I was sleeping!" She laughed softly, shrugging her small shoulders, "You know me, always passing out at random times. I swear I'm narcoleptic." She fell into another set of giggles, knowing that Hotaru wasn't buying any of it.

"Uh...huh...So I can go put my bag down? Maybe unpack?" Hotaru kicked her bag lightly, which the dogs were playing all over and sniffing, barking about the smells. Nikoru's eyes widened, reminding Hotaru of a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Uh, no! Why don't you take a shower? I'll unpack it for you! You were training all day, you have to be tired." She moved a step forward, reaching for the bag, but Hotaru slowly pushed it behind herself with a foot, freezing the girl mid-step.

"I took one before coming home. What's in the-" The bedroom door slid open at that point. Hidan stepped out, his cloak pulled over only half his body, as per usual, and slicking back his hair again.

"What the hell is going on out here? Who the fuck-" He looked at Hotaru, who narrowed her eyes at him, all traces of happiness gone. "Great, the hell are you doin' here?" He grumbled, Nikoru reaching out and touching his arm lightly, trying to get him to stop while he was ahead. He ripped away from her, snorting and glaring at her before turning to glare at Hotaru again.

"I live here, incase you forgot. Long before your ass invited itself in." She folded her arms over her chest.

"Ah, Hotaru-chan, do we really have to go through with this? Wasn't it enough at Kiba's?" Nikoru brushed a hand through her hair again, looking off to the side with a tired and slightly guilty look. Hotaru scoughed with lifted brows at her.

"No." She turned her attention back to Hidan, jabbing a finger in the air at him. "I can't believe you have the audacity to show up at my friend's house and show your ass like that! Then I get home and find out YOU'RE the one putting those marks on her? Who the fuck do you think you are? What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" He looked to the side tiredly, running a hand through his hair a final time, casually glancing around the room like she bored him.

"I'm a fucking S-class criminal. I think I can do whatever the hell I want." He shrugged, but she snarled and stomped her foot at him, making him turn to look at her again in some surprise.

"I don't care if you're a fucking GOD! You don't act like some IDIOT when you're a guest in someone's house and right now you're a guest in BOTH fucking houses!" She swiped a hand through the air. Now he narrowed his eyes at her, reaching up to touch the pendant to his necklace with light fingertips.

"Bitch, to you I AM a fucking god. You had better treat me with more goddamn respect or I'll finish off what you STARTED at that boy's house." He growled, moving a step forward in a menacing way, looming above her. He soon found out that size didn't much matter to Hotaru though. She lurched forward, slamming a finger into his bare chest and glowering up at him.

"What -I- started? You fucking came in and started to act like a fool! I know actual DOGS who act better than you! I'll throw you even harder next time, you little asshole!" He snarled, getting down farther into her face.

"Little? Who the hell are you calling little? YOU of all fucking people?" He jammed his own finger into her chest, actually making her stumble back a step.

"When you start acting like the big boy you PRETEND to be, I'll start fucking treating you like one." He lurched forward in a feint, wanting to scare her, wanting to making her back up, instead she lashed out and clawed at his chest. She caught his necklace as she did, ripping it from his neck and sending it flying across the room and beneath the couch. He glanced at the couch, then at the beads of blood starting across his chest, then back at her.

"You stupid whore!" He snatched a handful of her hair, causing her to screech and start clawing at his hands.

"Asshole!" She kicked him in the groin, but it only doubled him for a second; he struck her in the stomach instead of letting go like she expected. She gasped, going quiet as her eyes widened in pain, mouth open in silent cry. He threw her back a few paces and she collapsed to the floor, Nikoru looking on in horror.

"What the hell did you do? You stupid asshole! You can't fucking HIT her!" She ran over and struck his arm, but he caught her fist and threw her back a few paces too, causing her to almost fall over the coffee table.

"Fucking bitches, you don't lay your goddamn hands on me unless I fucking say you can!" He glared at Nikoru, but started for Hotaru again, who was coughing and slowly rising to her feet with a glare of death in her eyes. Zetsu threw himself in front of Hotaru, arms out to the side, mouth open in a violent hiss as he bore his fangs.

"Back off." He snarled, both voices working in unison, causing him to sound a bit more vile than he normally did. Hidan snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh please, a fucking cannibalistic flower doesn't scare me. Especially when you let this bitch own you like she does." He moved another step forward, but Zetsu snapped again, his teeth slamming together with a horrible, echoing sound before his mouth opened in another long hiss.

"We said back down. She is OURS." Hidan opened his mouth to say more, but Kisame swooped in behind him, snatching at his arms and locking them behind his back gruffly.

"Get off me, fish man!" Hidan thrashed around in Kisame's grasp, but the giant failed to move, only growled. Kakuzu walked over, stopping in front of Hidan and shaking his head slowly, glaring with those unrelenting, miscolored eyes of his. "Piss off, Oldman! I don't need your shit right now!" Kakuzu reached out and struck Hidan in the throat, snapping his windpipe. He gasped and gurgled for a moment, then fell silent, head bowed and eyes frozen in pain. Nikoru gasped and put her hand to her mouth, but Kakuzu slowly turned to her, shaking his head as Kisame dropped Hidan to the floor and walked away, brushing his hands off tiredly.

"He doesn't die. He LIKES pain." With that he gave a nasty smirk over his shoulder and kicked Hidan in the stomach, making a strange and broken sound spill from his mouth as he wrapped his arms around his waist. "He's fine." With that he turned back into a dog and walked away, jumping into the chair Hotaru was still near, settling down comfortably in it. Nikoru started to go over to Hidan, but thought better of it, remembering he didn't even like her to touch him when he WASN'T in pain, and not wanting to find out what would happen to her if she touched him when he was in pain. So she walked to Hotaru instead.


	25. UnNeeded Tensions

"UnNeeded Tensions"

Hotaru was sitting on the floor, her head dropped back against the armrest of the chair Kakuzu was now sitting in. Itachi was sitting near her bag, patiently watching, Kisame now joining him and sitting at his side. Zetsu wasn't necessarily fussing over Hotaru, but had his hand resting on her leg and was hissing back and forth at himself about something as he squatted in front of her. Tobi was bouncing all over Hotaru's lap for attention. She kept shoving him off tiredly, but he kept coming back. Sasori and Deidara were sitting behind them, between the side of the couch and the bedroom door, not hiding, but not showing themselves for any reason either; they seemed pleasantly disinterested in the events.

Nikoru put a hand on Hotaru's shoulder and she sighed, "I still say we should dump 'em...maybe FIX their asses...Bet that'd take him down a notch or two." She grumbled and Nikoru giggled, brushing hair behind her friend's ear, watching her shove Tobi away one more time.

"Even Zetsu? You've bonded so much though." She turned and smiled at Zetsu, half of him gave a smile back.

"Well...maybe not all of 'em." Hotaru turned and smiled at Nikoru who nodded with a smile of her own.

"I agree." She giggled quietly. They sat quietly for a moment, each of their minds trying to take in everything that had just happened in the time span of a few seconds.

"Just tell me...Was it willingly?" There wasn't upset in her voice, just an undertone of concern.

"Ummm...in a way. I was scared at first...I think HE thought it was unwilling at first..." Hotaru watched her as she spoke, watching her cheeks turn pink and her mouth curl into a small smile. "But, everything afterward was very willing. It's fun. I just wish he wasn't such an asshole OUT of bed too..." She glanced over her shoulder at the slowly recovering Hidan, then back at Hotaru, who laughed quietly, cutting her eyes to the side.

"Yeah well, what men aren't?" They both grinned and fell onto each other laughing at that one.

It wasn't until much later that things started to become slightly normal again. Hotaru was making dinner, seeing as she had abandoned her first dinner effort to come back here, and was tiredly stir frying something on the stove. Nikoru was helping, as much as she could, by gutting and scaling some fish for her; not that she was enjoying herself very much. She was just happy Hotaru was back to do the cooking. One less thing she had to worry about, and one less thing the boys had to complain about. Not that they weren't happy when she cooked. They had eaten it willingly enough. But, she got the feeling they were happy to have Hotaru-chan at the stove again too.

Hotaru put down the wooden spoon she was using and resituated the small clip in her hair. It was a big, fake, plastic, blue bow that slid into your hair like a clip. Nikoru had a pink one. She had it sitting on the side of her head, holding back strands of hair that had been too short for her to gather into the flipped ponytail she had clipped to the back top of her head. "I really don't like the tension that's settling in this house right now." She muttered, still unable to shake the feeling that she was on a battlefield rather than in her own home.

"I know...I don't even think I'm the target right now and I still feel like I should have weapons on me." Nikoru ripped entrails out of the fish, tossing them sickly into the trashcan she had tugged to sit by her feet and left open. Hotaru glanced at the boys, knowing some of them were watching her warily, she wouldn't name names, but others weren't. She nudged Nikoru with her arm, making the blonde glance over at her with slight confusion peeking in her eyes, and carefully tapped the counter three times with two fingernails, then made a small hand gesture.

Now she wasn't looking at Nikoru, rather looking into her stir fry casually, as if she were tapping her fingers absentmindedly rather than giving off a message. She didn't know if the boys caught on that it was a message or if her casual facade was working, but she did take comfort in the fact that they had no idea what the message was. No one knew this code; not even Naruto or Sasuke. It was their sole link to each other; like their summoning jutsu.

Nikoru made the small "oh" face as she looked back to her fish, easily taking its head off and pushing it to the side of her messy cutting board. Hotaru nodded with a single motion of her head and eyes, then let out a sigh, "Hand me that broccoli, babe." Nikoru wiped her hands on her apron and grabbed the vegetable, scooping it in both hands and dumping it into Hotaru's pan.

"The fish'll be done in a second, just gotta do one more thing and cut it." She went back to her work, thinking on what Hotaru had secretly told her.

With those few motions she had told her that she already was carrying weapons on her. Not that it was odd for Hotaru to have some sort of weapon on her. Never trust a bare skinned Hotaru, they had already learned that very far back in the past. She always at least had a sinbon or her plated gloves tucked somewhere on her persons. Even if you caught her on a rare day without something or in an unguarded moment without something, say a bath, never take her bare hands for granted. But, she had motioned just now, that she had more than her usual one. Hidan's attack had rattled her.

Nikoru drew in her bottom lip, gnawing on it thoughtfully as she wondered if she should be wearing more herself. She didn't think Hidan would attack her, whether he loved her or whether she was just a play thing, people didn't often go around destroying one of their toys for no good reason. Even if she wasn't his favorite she didn't think she was in too much danger. And she didn't see any of the others as a threat. Itachi maybe, but he struck her as a small threat; not that he wasn't dangerous in his own right. He just didn't seem like he would waste time messing with two girls like themselves. He seemed like the sort've man to have his priorities set in order and bigger fish to fry, so to speak.

But, if her Hotaru-chan was in danger from the man she had been messing around with for the past few days, she wasn't very sure she wanted him in her house. Let alone keep messing around with him and tweaking Hotaru's nerves even further. One thing was certain, within the next day, maybe within the next few hours, one of them was going to snap again. Hotaru was going to break under the tension and destroy the source of it or Hidan was going to take out what he perceived as a defiant bitch in his "pack." Though he wasn't leader, obviously, he still most likely thought himself second.

Nikoru slid the cutting board to Hotaru, who scraped the fish chunks in, both seeming to be lost in their thoughts. Nikoru took the cutting board and knife to the sink to begin cleaning things off so they would have a place to plate the food. Zetsu seemed to be intent on protecting Hotaru, that was a good sign. At least she had one for sure friend in this rabble. But, the only thing that worried Nikoru about that was Zetsu would have to be loyal to his group in the end, and he had that one bad side that may not be as attached to Hotaru as the white side seemed to be.

Then again, with what little she knew of Zetsu, it had appeared that both of the sides were working together when he threw himself in front of Hotaru earlier. Which had surprised her, she knew it had surprised Hotaru, and she thought it had surprised Hidan too. She wondered if Zetsu had ever attached himself to anyone before, because it seemed all of them had been thrown off by that move. Kisame also seemed intent on not letting anything happen to them. But, she thought that was simply to keep the peace rather than to protect them from love or care. Kakuzu too. The attack seemed to only be to slow Hidan down and stop him. Not to protect them because he care for them.

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. Hidan would know if she started to keep weapons on her, and he would wonder what was going on. That might drive him closer to breaking point. Someone knocked on the door and everyone froze. Hotaru looked to Nikoru, who stared at her, and all the dogs looked between them and the door suspiciously. Now was not a good time for someone to be knocking. They were under too much scrutiny, if one of the dogs thought that message Hotaru had tapped out had been one for help or to signal that she had already called someone, it might be the end for them. No matter how cute the puppies were, they were still the Akatsuki when it all boiled down to it. "I'll get it." Nikoru started towards the door, but Hotaru stopped her with a hand to the shoulder, shaking her head.

"I'll get it, watch the stove." Why Hotaru had put herself in such a position and made herself look that more suspicious, Nikoru didn't know, but she did know that most likely meant Hotaru had a good guess of who was on the other side of that door.


	26. Safety Net

"Safety Net"

Hotaru closed her eyes tightly before opening the door, gripping down on the handle in effort to keep her hand from trembling. She bit her lower lip, finding herself praying to the gods that they would let Naruto be the one on the other side of this door. The boys knew Naruto posed no threat to them. They knew he was just a foolish little boy who liked to stopped by at random times and giggle with them for a minuet or so. Didn't they? Hotaru started to chance a glance over her shoulder at all of them, but bit down on her lip and stopped herself ahead of time. Taking in a deep breath she turned the brass handle and slowly pulled the door back, peering around its edge with terror gripping her soul. Please, be little Naruto.

"Evening, Hotaru-chan. I'm sorry for bothering you at such an hour." Hotaru's heart sank into the pit of her stomach. Shino. The last person in the world to come visit her had to choose tonight, of all nights, to come knocking on her door. She released her breath, opening her eyes to him and smiling as brightly and calmly as she could. Something furry sat on top of her foot, leaning against her leg heavily. Another furry something brushed against her other leg, settling down calmly beside her foot. If possible, her heart sank even farther into her bowels.

"Ah, no! It's fine, Shino-kun! What's up?" She kept the door shut as far as possible, but said his name as loudly as possible, hoping Nikoru would hear it. His blue-blocker glasses glinted at her in the winter sunlight, hands shoved deep into the dull pockets of his trench coat. She could see nothing of his face other than the bridge of his nose and round of his cheekbones.

"I'd like to speak with you, actually. If you have a moment to spare." She bit her lip again, taking a deep breath before glancing down at her feet. Zetsu was sitting on top of them, looking up at her with unblinking eyes. When their gazes caught his mouth opened in a silly grin, sending his little pink tongue over the side of his gums cutely, his chest puffing in and out quickly with his soft pants. The sight of him made her feel a little better. She glanced to her side as she lifted her gaze back to Shino, catching Itachi's crimson colored gaze before she stared back at her reflection in Shino's glasses. She didn't feel so much better anymore.

"Actually, umm...now's not really a good time. Nikoru and I were cooking dinner and we've got to feed the dogs and-" He held up a hand, startling her into stopping.

"It'll only take a moment, Hotaru-chan. It's about that gift you sent to my mother the other morning for the bracelet. I needed to ask you a few questions about it." She furrowed her brow, tilting her head a bit as he spoke. She glanced over her shoulder quickly, seeing Nikoru pushing the stir-fry about on the stove, her head bowed low over the spicy steam rising from the wok. Hotaru looked back to Shino again, seeing that his hand had retreated back into his pocket again.

"You can pull some shoes on if you'd like. I actually brought the gift with me. As said, I need you to look at something and give me a few instructions for her." Her brow furrowed further as he slid a step to the side and gestured to the street, she stuck her head out of the door farther, seeing a bike leaned against its kickstand at the edge of their road. Hotaru looked back to Shino like he had lost his mind, opening her mouth to question him. He tilted his head some, tucking his hand back into his pocket. Something in the way his head ticked made the pieces click together. Hotaru's eyes widened with the realization, then she straightened her spine and looked back to him, nodding quickly.

"Sure, sure. I'm sorry, I didn't think about her never having owned one before I gave it to her. Just give me a moment to get my coat on, would you like to wait inside? Maybe come in for a cup of tea before hand?" She gestured him inside, but he shook his head and held up a hand again.

"I'm fine, I had a cup before I came over. Please, take your time." She smiled lightly, nervously, then backed up and shut the door. She turned to the closet, opening it and reaching inside for her coat and boots. When she stepped back and shut it again, Itachi was standing at her side, glowering her down. She turned to him with a shaky breath, shrugging her coat on as Nikoru abandoned the stove and came rushing towards her. Hotaru held out a hand, making like she was simply sliding her hand into her coat sleeve, and Nikoru slowed her pace.

"What? Is there something wrong with me stepping out to help a friend in need?" Hotaru chewed her cheek as she tried to exude the confidence she normally did. Nikoru saddling up to her side helped a little, she had to admit.

"You cannot go out there without one of us." Zetsu bounced around the tops of Hotaru's boots as she bent and started to pull them on, ignoring his comment. Nikoru touched her back with light fingertips, giving her another burst of confidence.

"I'm only stepping out to the street. Y'all can watch from the damned window if you want, I don't care." Hotaru waved him away, brushing Zetsu aside so she could tuck her foot into her boot. He nipped her fingers as they shakily took hold of the zipper and began to pull it up, her second hand reaching round to muff the top of his head; another small burst of confidence.

"Hotaru-chan, dinner will get cold. Don't take too long chatting, okay?" Nikoru patted her arm as she stood straight again, now standing a few inches taller; though she still was shorter than both of them. Hotaru smiled over at her, giggling softly, knowing she was doing her best to help and make it look normal and casual.

"I won't, you know Shino's not a big talker." She turned and reached for the door handle, but Itachi shot a hand out, placing it atop hers to stop her. She slowly turned to look back up at him, frowning when she realized she had to lean back to keep their lips from brushing.

"You cannot go out there alone. I forbid it." She didn't need any extra bursts of confidence now. She scoughed indignantly and snatched the handle from him, wrapping her hand around it and ripping the door open, sending him skittering back and out of the genkan with a scowl.

"Try and stop me, asshole." She started to squeeze out of the crack she had made for herself in the door, sticking her tongue out at him as though she though of it as a big joke. "I'll be right back, I just gotta help him with this bike." She murmured to Nikoru more than anyone, then shut the door behind herself. She wondered what kind of trouble she had just gotten them into by doing this. But, it was true, they could stand in the bedroom and look out of the window and see her clear as day.

Shino stood with a hand on one of the handlebars to the leaning bike. He watched her walk up, hugging herself and hanging her head as she did. It was Kiba's old bike. The paint was actually flaking in a few places and the little basket on the back of it had seen better days. But, you couldn't see all of that from the doorway or the window. You could just see that it was a red bike with a basket on back. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble for you, Hotaru-chan." She looked up at him again, blinking against the bitter wind, gnawing at her lower lip till blood seeped through the chapped lines on it.

"I don't know if you did or not. What do you want and how much do you know, Shino? I'm in a bit of a rush." She grumbled, hating to be so bitter with him, but unsure of how else to speed this along. No more pleasantries. She needed to get back into the house as soon as possible. She cut her eyes to the bike, his second hand freeing itself from its pocket to rest on the leather of the seat.

"What SHOULD I know, Hotaru-chan?" She frowned at him, huffing out a puff of cold air before cutting her eyes back to the bike again, narrowing them as she hugged herself even tigheter.

"Shino, I know you bugged me when I was at Kiba's. Literally." She reached out to pat the handlebars he had hold of, remembering that she was supposed to be feigning giving him instructions about the bike. He reached out, brushing hair and off her shoulder, pulling something away discreetly as he did. She glanced down at it, watching him turn to set it on the bike seat. One of his little bugs twitched its antennae at him. She shivered, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck, trying to scrub the idea of that bug having been there away. She hated bugs.

"You'll have to forgive me. Kiba was worried, as was I. We only did what we thought was best." He knelt in front of the bike, leaning it up and turning one of the pedals with soft clicks of the chain. He looked up at her, appearing to be showing her something, even gesturing to the chain links. "The animals you're housing are men, Hotaru-chan. My sources tell me you are not unwise to this." She knelt beside him as well, folding an arm over her bent knees, but reaching out for the chain with her free hand.

"I-I did know. Well, WE, did know. We-we didn't when we first picked them up, you have to understand. It took us three or four days to figure it out, actually. Now we have to house them until they decide to leave the village." He frowned, nodding his head like he understood what she was telling him. He rose to his feet and she did as well. He turned to face her, gesturing for her to look down at the bolt that kept the handlebars connected to the bike. She bent over it as told, watching his fingers point at and work with the bolt.

"Do you know why they are here?" She shook her head, reaching out to point to the bolt as well, wiggling the handlebars as she did.

"No, they havn't told us. They just say they need our house and will be out of our hair soon." She shrugged, looking back to him as he nodded once more. He stepped back and looked to her, sighing with a soft puff of air.

"Are you safe? What should be mentioned to Kiba?" She nodded, brushing hair behind her ear with a small smile, rolling her shoulders in a shrug before reaching out to pat the bike.

"We're fine. I've already told Kiba I'll find him if I need something, you could remind him of that." He nodded again, turning and taking hold of the handlebars, kicking the kickstand up into its rightful place against the bike. "Thank you for coming to check on us though...We'll be fine. We just screwed up...Just, do me a favor and you and Kiba keep this to yourselves. Please, Shino-kun." She reached out and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, squeezing him tightly before backing up and releasing another breath of air she didn't realize she had been holding. She didn't normally hug Shino. He wasn't a very big toucher. But, she wanted desperately for him to do as she asked. He started to roll the bike off, nodding his head as he guided it into turning around.

"Do not worry, Hotaru-chan. I will keep everything to myself. I will simply tell him you know nothing other than they are normal dogs and I have left another bug in your house to keep you safe. Please, call if you girls need something, Hotaru-chan." She waved after him, laughing now, then turned and started jogging back towards the house. He was so understanding...She just felt bad for not telling him that the men were also S-class criminals. Of course, as she turned the door handle to let herself back in, she scrubbed at the back of her neck again, wondering if he really did put another bug on her. She HATED bugs.


	27. Forebodeing Dreams

"Forebodeing Dreams"

_The wind was too cold. And suddenly the sun was too bright. Hotaru realized she was staring up at the blank sky, and she couldn't blink the light away. Her chest ached, and she couldn't see out of her left eye. She felt wet on her left cheek, and she felt involuntary tears on her right. The ground was too hard and scratched too roughly against her skin. She couldn't move a muscle, every fiber of her being felt like it was on fire and made of led. _

_ Someone ran over, their panting too loud in her suddenly sensative ears, their footsteps hurried and scratching across the dirt. A cloud of dust surrounded her as whoever was coming over skidded to a halt and fell to their knees beside her, scooping her limp body up in their strong arms. She coughed, the air searing her lungs as she did. Blinking, Naruto's face slowly came into focus. _

_ Pure terror gripped his features, agony screaming from his eyes as his lips quivered in fear. "Ho-Hotaru-chan?...Onee-san?" He whimpered, reaching up and brushing calloused, deft fingertips over her left cheek, smearing the thick wet over her lips and jawline mindlessly. She couldn't move her mouth, no matter how hard she tried to speak to him she could only stare. His body started to shake, making her tremble in his grasp. "Hotaru! Hotaru, answer me!" He started to shout at her, shaking her body now, tears pouring down his face, falling between her open lips and into her own tear stained eyes. "Onee-san! Answer me!" He was getting angry, but it was a heartbroken anger. A soul shattering anger that came only from the loss of something dear. "ONEE-SAN!" _

_ She couldn't answer, she couldn't move. She wanted to stroke his cheek, brush his blonde spikes back from his sweaty forehead and giggle and tell him she was fine. She wanted to kiss his tears away. She wanted to hug him, pull him into her embrace and not let go until she made him understand she was okay. But, she could only watch him. His skin was getting hot, it was starting to burn her own. He was shaking even harder now, his eyes were narrowing and yellowing, she was watching his canines elongate and teeth sharpen. 'Naruto, dont'! Naruto, stop it! Don't give in!' She knew what he was doing. She wanted to shake him as hard as he had shaken her. 'Naruto, you can't do it! Stop it! Please!' He couldn't hear her. _

_ He dropped her as someone laughed in the distance. Her body fell limp to the unforgiving ground and her head rolled to the side, letting her see who was laughing so mockingly. Sasuke. Why was he here? Why was he dressed in such a strange outfit? Who did that outfit remind her of? Why was he laughing? Why wasn't he helping Naruto? Why wasn't he stopping the Kyuubi? Didn't he know Naruto was aching on the inside? Didn't he know Naruto was in pain? Didn't he see HER? "She's dead. There's no use in crying over spilt milk, dobe." He laughed again. He kept smirking and laughing. His hand was covered in blood and there was an unsheathed sword stuck in the front of the huge rope tied around his robed waist. _

_ Naruto let out a scream and she felt a pulse of power that washed over her in a heated wave. 'Naruto, please! Stop it! The Kyuubi shortens your life! Please!' He couldn't hear her silent screams still. No one could. She was just lying useless as Sasuke laughed and Naruto died behind her. He stepped over her and she saw nothing but fiery chakra consuming his body, a black mass within a swirl of red and orange. He made primitive movements and primal noises, like he had lost his humanity. 'Naruto, don't! DON'T!' Sasuke kept laughing. _

_"She didn't need that stupid eye. It's not like it would've helped her. Her life was worthless, I don't know why you're so upset." That's why her left cheek was wet and bloody. She didn't have a left eye anymore. What a sight she must've been. It hurt so badly too. _

_ Naruto shook his head like a wild animal, snarling and growling, the chakra coming off of him hot enough to burn her flesh at such a close range. His body tensed and he let out another beastly shriek of rage and anguish, another shock wave coming off of him, knocking Sasuke back a step or two and making him shield his face from the dust. 'NARUTO, STOP!' Her empty screams were drowned out by the over powering roar emitting from the bony mouth that surrounded Naruto's blackened face. He was a monster! Some six tailed, bony monster! 'NARUTO!' _

_ And Sasuke just kept laughing; pulling out his sword and laughing._


	28. Here for You

"Here for You"

"Naruto, stop!" Hotaru shot up in bed, screeching and looking around her room wildly. She gasped for air, gripping her chest and looking at the twisted sheets on her lap. They were moist with sweat and so tangled she wasn't sure where one end started and the other ended. She closed her eyes, rubbing a free hand over her aching left eye to make the sharingon go away. She slowed her breathing, a few tears managing to escape as she recalled the sight of the thing that was SUPPOSED to be Naruto. She let go of her shirt front and put her hands over her eyes, drawing up her knees and starting to cry, trying to make sense of the terrifying dream.

Someone touched her shoulder lightly, making her give another small cry and jump back. She stared at Nikoru with wide eyes and the blonde stared back at her in mute concern and surprise. Slowly Hotaru let her body relax as much as it could again, and slowly Nikoru sat beside her on the bed. "What did you dream about, Hotaru-chan?" Hotaru shook her head and dug the heel of her palm into her right eye, sniffling loudly before taking another shaky breath. Nikoru waited patiently, rubbing Hotaru's shoulder gently in effort to ease some of the tension away. She glanced away from her ailing friend, looking at the floor as her other hand sat draped across her lap, her fingers brushing over her own bare thigh to relieve anxiousness. Concern still had hold of her soft features, but she knew to give Hotaru time before asking again.

"I-it was horrible." Nikoru slowly turned back to Hotaru, hearing her whimper into the darkness of their room.

"What was, honey?" She coaxed softly, sliding her hand onto Hotaru's back and starting to rub in small, slow circles beneath her uncombed hair. Hotaru put her cheek to her knee, looking the other way from Nikoru, still sniffling and shivering every now and then. Her eye ached, and she couldn't make the sharingon go away.

"I was dead." She whispered softly, the stillness of the room almost swallowing her voice whole before letting it reach Nikoru. Her friend nodded slowly though, scooting closer to her on the bed and putting her hand against her sheet covered calf, patting it lightly as she watched and waited for her to continue. Hotaru was slowly relaxing, watching as the dream slowly faded a distant and horrible memory. "I couldn't speak and I couldn't move. I kept screaming and calling out, but no one could hear me. No one." She murmured now, not wanting to tell Nikoru all of it, but at the same time, wanting to tell someone desperately; wanting someone to help her make sense of it. The gods were trying to tell her something through that dream. She just knew it.

"I imagine that was horrible, honey. But, you're not dead. You're fine. You've just been in the house for too long is all." Nikoru smiled lightly, rubbing her back lightly once again, kissing her knee softly. But, Hotaru shook her head slowly, still not looking at her.

"That wasn't the scary part. Sasuke was there." Nikoru paused and listened carefully now, biting at her lower lip softly. "H-he was dressed funny. I've seen the outfit somewhere...I just couldn't think of where. It was like," Hotaru sat up, looking down at herself and gesturing to her upper half with a confused and determined expression. "A white robe that was open to reveal his chest, and came down to purple pants sort've...like a man's kimono...but there was this huge rope wrapped around his waist...It was big, and purple, and tied in a huge bow in front of him. He had this sword stuck into the rope too...It had blood on it and his left hand was covered in blood all the way down to the wrist...there were black markings wrapped around his wrist too...It was so weird." She shook her head, putting her hands over her face before Nikoru could see it, dropping it to her knees again with a slightly defeated and shaky breath.

"He kept laughing. He was just laughing that slow, mocking laugh of his over and over again. He wouldn't stop!" She hit her knee, glaring at it and growling as she recalled Sasuke just standing and laughing as Naruto tore himself apart. Nikoru put her hand atop Hotaru's fist to keep her from hitting her knee again, her expression still soft and understanding.

"Hotaru-chan..." Hotaru shook her head though.

"No, just listen!" She spat, turning to glare at the wall, feeling tears running down her cheeks again. Nikoru sighed, but nodded, patting her hand one more time to show she would listen. Silence engulfed them once more, and it took Hotaru a long time to start again. She was listening to Naruto's beastly screams. "Naruto...He was holding me and calling my name. 'Hotaru! Hotaru, answer me!'..." She bit her lip, letting out a muffled sob before putting her forehead to her knees one more time, as if hiding.

She lifted her head after a minute, "...'Onee-san! Onee-san, please!'...He just kept calling over and over and I kept trying to tell him I was okay. I kept trying to show him something to stop him from getting angry. To stop him from thinking I was dead. He was getting so upset. He was letting the Kyuubi use him again! I could see it! I tried to stop him so many times!" She was getting despirate, as if she were reliving the dream. She was staring at the closet at the foot of the bed, almost able to see Naruto transforming before her eyes once more. Her voice was rising in pitch, like she was trying to make him hear her again.

Nikoru tensed, gripping a bit harder on Hotaru's fist and clutching slightly at the thin shirt on her back. "Sasuke was laughing at him! He was taunting him! Naruto turned into this...this THING! It was awful! It...it was him...but there were bones and six tails and these empty, soulless, violent eyes staring out of this horrible, open, boney jaw. And he was screaming! He kept screaming and screeching, only it came out like the monster's bellow!" She was holding onto the sides of her head now, sobbing and trying to shake away the image at the foot of her bed, trying to make the hollow screams stop.

Nikoru's eyes were wide and she was trying to grab hold of Hotaru, trying to stop the breakdown before it got any worse. "Hotaru, Hotaru, stop it!" She got to her knees, forcing Hotaru's hands down by her sides and wrapping her in a hug. "Hotaru! You're okay! It was just a dream! I promise, it was just a dream!" Nikoru was hugging her, but shaking her at the same time. Hotaru hugged her, burying her face in her shoulder and sobbing, taking up a slow, rhythmic nod with hitching breaths.

Nikoru held her for a long time, afraid to let her on her own again, afraid to hear that terror in her voice. She closed her eyes, rubbing Hotaru's back slowly once more, smoothing her shirt down along her spine and doubling back up in a slow and wide circle. "You're fine...You're just fine..." She cooed and hummed softly, murmuring into her ear and rocking slowly, feeling her muscles ever so slowly easing up beneath her. "Now...it was just a dream, honey. I know it was scary, but I promise, it was just a dream." She pulled back gently, her features soft and promising as she looked down at Hotaru's hair covered face, sitting back on her feet slowly.

"I-I know...It's just...He was in so much pain..." Nikoru nodded, brushing hair out of Hotaru's face and rubbing her thumb over her cheek to wipe the tears away.

"I know, I know...but you know as well as I do that Naruto's in no pain what-so-ever right now. He's at home asleep in his little pajamas with his silly little night cap on his head, on his silly little futon, with a belly full of ramen and drool hanging out of his mouth. And in the morning, if you want, we can go see him and you can hug him and confirm for yourself that he's solid and okay. Alright?" She smiled, lifting Hotaru's chin up with her finger to see her face for the first time since all of this started. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw the blood red glow of Hotaru's sharingon staring back at her though. Hotaru's eyes looked tired and sore, but her left eye had that same violent look in it that she had been describing in her dream.

Hotaru smiled tiredly and pulled her chin away from her friend's spindly fingers, rubbing her own hand over her features as Nikoru watched. "It won't go away. Not while I'm this upset..." Slowly she looked back at her friend, her lips falling into a dead-set line. "Sasuke pulled it out." She said it as though it had honestly happened, sending shivers up Nikoru's spine. Nikoru shook her head, trying her best to smile a comforting smile again.

"We-well...it was just a dream, honey. Your body's just reacting to the tension the dream caused." She nodded, satisfying herself with that answer too, then hugged Hotaru one more time. "Do you want me to sleep with you?" She pulled back to gauge her friend's reaction to the question. Hotaru nodded a bit sulkily, looking down at the sheets as she did.

"Don't leave me alone with those screams." She whimpered, making Nikoru realize that Naruto's transformation in the dream had frightened her more than Sasuke killing her and tearing her eye out. It all sounded a bit freaky to her, honestly. Nikoru nodded and beamed though.

"Alright, scoot over." Hotaru did so, scooting towards the wall and lifting the covers up for Nikoru to climb under. She dropped the covers when the thin girl had slid beneath them, then rolled on her side to face her, tucking an arm beneath the pillow they were now sharing. Nikoru smiled and scooted closer to her, wrapping her leg around her and draping it over her hip before draping her arm over her shoulder and pulling her closer to snuggle with her. She nuzzled her head beneath Hotaru's chin and smiled, sighing comfortably as Hotaru sighed and settled in as well, putting an arm over the narrow little girl. "No more bad dreams, kay, Hotaru-chan?" Nikoru glanced up at her and giggled quietly, Hotaru nodding slowly, already starting to drift off again.

"I'll do my best." She murmured, her eyes closed and face empty as she faced a now empty void of consciousness.

Nikoru started to hum softly, sending tiny vibrations through Hotaru's body as her mind flooded with cool, peaceful colors. Relaxation finally took over her body and she took to stroking the girl's hair absentmindedly while she let the colors absorb her and the song envelop her. Nikoru always seemed to know what to do for Hotaru when she had her night terrors. Hotaru knew she wouldn't survive without the girl. Sleep finally over took both of them, silencing the room and emptying the air for nothing but breath to be heard in. The house now had a sense of calm and serenity in it, easing the mind of everyone within its confines.


	29. Dream Analyzing

"Dream Analyzing"

Hidan huffed sulkily from his spot on the couch, dropping his big head onto his paws and grumbling as he looked away from the open bedroom door. Kakuzu jumped up onto the couch beside him, batting at his ear lightly with a big paw, making Hidan growl in the back of his throat. 'Don't be so upset, the girl comes before you do. You knew that from the start.' Kakuzu scoughed a small laugh, settling in beside the silver dog for warmth, the house a bit chilly tonight. Hidan grumbled something again, rolling his eyes as Kakuzu settled his head on his own paws.

'Besides, it's not like you love her or anything.' One big, sickly discolored eye rolled over to face Hidan, gauging his reaction as Kakuzu smirked while saying this. Hidan lifted his head and glared down at the brown animal before biting at its ear with another small growl.

'Of course I don't, Geezer. Stop trying to rile me up.' He tugged at the brown dog's ear before letting it go and dropping his head back to the couch lazily, Kakuzu snickering to himself.

'Baka.' He muttered softly, both of them closing their eyes and drifting into emptiness.

Itachi glanced up from the bedroom doorway, watching Kakuzu go to make Hidan feel a little better after the girl got up and left his side. Nikoru had been sitting on the couch messing around with Hidan, bothering all of them, until Hotaru had screeched and woken up. Then, without saying anything to Hidan at all, Nikoru had gotten up and bolted over to her friend, abandoning him for the night without a second thought. Itachi had padded over to the door as the girls talked to each other, hearing Hotaru mention something about Sasuke and the Kyuubi. Now he turned back to the sleeping women, wondering what they were dreaming of as it was now.

Kisame sat down beside Itachi, both of them silently watching the girls for a time. 'Did she say anything?' The blue pitt turned and looked down at the narrow headed black dog, but he shook his head solemnly.

'Just a bad dream. All of it nonsense.' The black dog settled down on the floor, the tips of his paws resting on the cool metal of the track to the paper doors. Kisame turned to look back into the room, Zetsu already having jumped onto Hotaru's bed and curled up in the crook of her legs.

'She really got freaked by something.' Kisame lay down too, keeping a small sliver of space between him and the dobermen for now. Tobi was sitting in the room too, at the head of the bed, curled up near Hotaru's head this time. He couldn't lay beside Nikoru's head like he wanted, it would've put him in danger of being rolled over on. 'What did she say about the Kyuubi?' Itachi turned and looked over at Kisame, sighing heavily to signal he was tiring of the questions.

'Something about six tails and bones. She kept shrieking about the pain the boy was in.' Kisame lifted his head at this, tilting it to the side a bit.

'Do you think the Kyuubi is telling her something? Maybe she saw one of its forms.' Itachi shook his head though.

'Not likely. The Kyuubi would do nothing to endanger the possibility of it escaping its captor. I'm sure the beast knows the love the girl has for its vessel and knows that if it revealed a form of itself to her she would try and keep the boy from doing anything to bring out that form.' Kisame's head stayed cocked in a questioning angle, making Itachi sigh one more time and drop his head to his paws.

Tobi had lifted his head though, his ears perked forward as he listened to their conversation from afar. 'In short, she just had a bad dream. It's all nonsense her over worked and worried mind came up with.' Kisame nodded, snorting softly before putting his own head down and rolling onto his side, bumping into Itachi's side lazily. There was another moment of silence before Kisame rolled his head back and looked up at Itachi with one big eye.

'What if it was your brother's doing?' Itachi lifted his own head, dropping it onto Kisame's neck heavily and closing his eyes one more time. For a second the pitt didn't think he was going to answer.

'It's possible, Kisame.' The doberman sighed after a moment, Kisame giving a quick nod before letting the conversation die. When Itachi was sure the bigger dog was asleep he opened his eyes and stared at the wall for a long time, replaying the girl's words in his head. He knew the outfit she had described, it would only be a matter of time before she realized what it was too. He just didn't know if the dream was his brother's doing, Orochimaru's doing, or just the poor girl's mind turning against her for the night. So, the question was, if the dream wasn't just coincidence, what would he do if his brother came back for the girl and the Kyuubi?


	30. Walking Home

"Walking Home"

"Hey, Naruto..."

"Hmm? What is it, Hotaru-chan?"

"I umm...I keep thinking...you know..." Hotaru sighed after a moment, not sure how to word her thoughts or even why she called Naruto's name. She closed her eyes and put her cheek against the side of his head, able to feel the warm moisture of his sweat smearing across her skin and feel the soft fuzz of his hair brushing over the round of her cheek and against her eyelashes. Naruto glanced over his shoulder at her, his crystal colored eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight, that small, eternal smile caught in the corner of his mouth.

"What's up, Hotaru-chan? You've acted a little funny ever since we stopped training." He bounced a little, reshifting and rebalancing her weight on his back as he hefted her up a bit higher where she had slipped down in their walk. Hotaru smiled softly, reaching a tired hand up to languidly run the fingertips through his spikes on the other side of his head. She nuzzled her cheek against him once more, the soft bounce of his carrying her lulling her into a familiar comfort.

"I just don't know what I'd do without my little ray of sunshine, NaruNaru..." She gave a soft laugh as she said this, letting her hand drop to his chest and patting him lightly, "Well, actually, I guess you're not so little any more, are you?" He laughed too.

"I was never littler than you, Hotaru-chan! You just started saying that one day!" She laughed too, turning and loudly kissing the side of his head before resting against it again.

"I'm sorry, dear...I guess it just came from my need to nurture you and take care of you." She was rubbing his chest through his shirt absentmindedly, her second hand fallen over his other shoulder and bouncing against the other side of his chest lightly. Her voice was getting softer, as though she were falling asleep. "But, you wound up taking care of me alot more than I took care of you...I guess you weren't the little brother I always thought you were...More like the big brother I always needed, huh...?"

Naruto glanced around town as they started heading towards her apartment, people glancing at them as they passed by. It wasn't an unusual sight, everyone knew Naruto very well, for good reasons and for bad ones. And they knew Hotaru pretty well too. Plus it was generally normal for Naruto to be toting Hotaru around on his back, it was something they had done since they were in squad together. It was just a little odd now because they were older. And because there was no squad, just the two of them. Their no-bars-hold relationship had always seemed odd to people in the village, often making them uncomfortable, but those close to them didn't seem to mind a thing.

"I don't know, Hotaru-chan...you took care of me alot. I can't count how many times you threw yourself in harms way for me." He mumbled softly, glancing off to the side as he thought of a few specific incidents that stuck out in his mind like sore thumbs. There would be points in time that he would never ever forget how hard she fought to protect him. The look that always came over her as she did...It haunted him in good ways and terrible ways. He didn't like knowing that he was the cause of so much soul racking pain sometimes. But, he loved the fact that someone loved him enough to want to die for him.

_"Leave him alone! Don't touch him!" He looked over at the shrieking voice, his eyes tear stained and over sized with fear. The ninja holding his throat in a death grip glanced over too, sneering at the little girl he had so easily swatted away before. She was dragging herself up off the ground, every limb aching and quivering, every breath seeming to take effort. _

_ "Ho-Hotaru...!" He gasped, kicking his feet and clawing at the man, wanting her to stop hurting herself for him. The man started to laugh, watching Hotaru fall to the ground and have to start getting up all over again. He had broken one of her ribs with his strike. _

_ "What? Do you plan to stop me? What if I break all of your little friend's fingers, while you watch, until he tells me where the scroll is?" The man had dropped him then, forcing him to his knees as he held up one of his hands and gripped the wrist to the point of the bones shattering. He cried out, trying to wrench his hand free, clawing and tearing at the flesh of the arm with his free hand, kicking at his legs and trying to pull backwards as the man grabbed hold of one of his fingers and ripped it backwards. The pain shot through him like a bolt of lightening, taking a while for his mind to register. His jaw went slack for a moment, body rigid, before he screamed and the man laughed aloud. _

_ Hotaru looked at him with tears pouring down her cheeks, rage causing her to bite her lower lip till it bled. "NARUTO!" She forced herself to her feet, stumbling forward as the man twisted another finger backwards. He couldn't fight anymore, it was hard for him to do anything but scream and beg. He had a vague registering of what happened next, but he couldn't remember it all. He just remembered Hotaru screaming alot. She kept screaming his name and screeching for the man to leave him alone. It came in bits and pieces after that. _

_ He remembered the man letting go suddenly. Hotaru standing in front of him, kunai gripped in one hand, the other out to the side to block him from harm. He remembered the look on her face, her left eye glowing that shocking blood red, just like Sasuke's. He remembered the man screaming and begging after that too; just like he had been doing not too much earlier. _

_ Then he woke up in a hospital bed, his fingers bandaged up, along with the rest of him. Kakashi had been standing over him, Sasuke was in a chair next to him, slightly bandaged, but having taken the least damage out of all of them. He remembered looking over and seeing Hotaru still sleeping in her hospital bed, right next to him, her hand outstretched for his. "She wanted to be there when you woke up." Kakashi had told him. He had almost cried again._

"Well, that doesn't mean I took care of you. Sasuke did that alot for me and you see where that got us." He didn't even realize she was still awake. He reshifted her weight again, lifting her against his back one more time.

"Don't say things like that, Hotaru-chan. Sasuke took care of you too. We all took care of each other, you know?" She sighed lightly next to his ear, a soft breath of air that sent shivers down his spine.

"Mmmmm...I guess you're right, NaruNaru...I guess we're all square when it comes to that, huh?" Her fingers tapped his necklace, wrapping around it after a while and gripping hold of it. He glanced down at her hand, then over his shoulder at her.

"Hotaru-chan?"

"Hmmm?"

"You don't like this necklace, do you?"

"Frankly? No." He laughed at her bluntness, always having appreciated that about her. She turned her head slightly, nudging it against his ear one more time before settling against his shoulder again.

"Why not? It means alot to me."

"I know, honey, and that's why I don't say anything about it normally. It's just...I feel like that woman is marking you with it." Hotaru grumbled and he snickered softly.

"Granny Tsunada, marking me? I think if anything she would appreciate me dying, not try to keep me around by marking me."

"Don't say things like that, Naru-kun."

"Yeah...sorry." He laughed and looked up again, seeing her apartment in the distance.

"Don't apologize either, I'm just saying, I don't like to think of you dying or someone wishing you dead. Tsunada likes you. You remind her of her little brother, that much is obvious. I just...you're MY little brother...you know?" Hotaru whimpered quietly, releasing the necklace and putting her hand flat against his chest again. He smiled softly and nodded.

"I'll always be your little brother, Hotaru-chan. I'll always be your friend. I'll always be WITH you, Hotaru-chan. No matter who else sees me as what else. I'll always be yours first." She smiled at this, once more nudging against his cheek and hugging him lightly as she did so.

"My ray of sunshine...I just couldn't exist without you." And with that she passed out. And only a few steps from her door too. He laughed quietly and kept going, trudging a bit slower at the thought of having to separate himself from this closeness to her.


	31. Visits

"Visits"

He simply opened the front door without knocking. All the dogs Hotaru and Nikoru had collected freaked and ran over to him, barking and bouncing as he scrambled to shut the door, before any of them could get out, and keep Hotaru from bumping into anything. Nikoru got up to see what the commotion was about and blushed lightly as she spotted him trying to pull his sandals off, keep Hotaru on his back, not wake her up, and push the dogs off at the same time.

"Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry, honey. I didn't even know it was you-Guys, back off!" She barked the last bit, surprising him with the sudden change in pitch and tone to her voice. She went from being quiet and sweet to loud and scary in a split second. Somehow it didn't shock him though, Hotaru did it more often than Nikoru did.

The dogs backed down for the most part, letting him carry Hotaru up into the house. "Do you mind if I set her in the bedroom? She passed out on the way back." Nikoru laughed and shook her head.

"No, no, go ahead. Just excuse the mess, you know how it is." She started to the fridge, grabbing something to drink as he carried Hotaru into her bedroom and gently put her on her bed. The black and white dog she was always with jumped onto the mattress and began licking at her face, trying to get her to wake up or trying to clean her, one of the two.

He gently pushed it away with the back of his hand, "She's sleeping, little guy. She'll play with you when she wakes up." The animal snarled at him for a moment, then got quiet, then snarled again. It started chasing its tail and biting itself, snarling and whining as though it was having a full fledged fight with itself at the foot of her bed. Naruto shook his head and figured he'd ask Hotaru about it later. That dog was the weirdest out of all of them for sure.

He turned back to her, picking up her hands and pulling her gloves off, laying them on the nightstand before pulling her sandals off. She rolled onto her side and he laughed quietly, tugging the covers from beneath her and pulling them up to her shoulders. "See you tomorrow, Onee-san. You owe me ramen!" He smirked quietly and ran fingers through her matted and tangled curls before walking out of the room, turning to the shut the door behind himself. The solid black dog ran in and jumped onto the bed before he could. He paused, but saw the animal settle down the confused puppy and both of them curl up next to Hotaru on either side of her, so he shut the door quietly.

"Wanna sit for a minute?" Nikoru gestured to the couch and he laughed, rubbing a hand up the back of his neck, feeling the sweat and grime. He smiled, but grimaced, putting his other hand on his hip. It ached a little from carrying her on an already training sore body, but he never minded.

"Nah, I don't wanna get it all dirty. I'm pretty gross." Nikoru brushed it off, but he persisted. Though he didn't deny the drink she offered him.

"Did y'all have fun? She was looking forward to getting out with you today." She fell onto the couch, upsetting the silver dog from its spot, causing it to grumble and huff as it got up and sulked off to the chair where it bothered the brown dog until it wound up flopping on top of it and going to sleep. The blue dog jumped onto the couch beside her instead, happily curling into her side and looking at him with rather sharp teeth. He liked that one though, it was pretty nice, for such a mean look.

"Yeah we did. She's just as strong as ever, if not stronger." He laughed, taking another swig of his drink. She nodded a little in response.

"Yeah, I keep telling her y'all should go for anbu. You both are good enough to make it." She seemed a little saddened by this remark though, Naruto could tell. His features softened and he moved forward a pace, running his hand through his hair again.

"Well...I don't 'cause anbus don't make it to Hokage. And she doesn't for you. She doesn't want you to be one and she would never do anything without you." He had already had this conversation with Hotaru, it was how he could speak so confidently for her. Nikoru studied him for a moment, then smiled lightly, nodding a bit before looking down at her bottle of water.

"Well, I'm just glad she could get out of the house for a while. She needed the fresh air...and she needed to see you...She was acting a little strange beforehand." He nodded, furrowing his brow as he thought about it briefly.

"Yeah, she had been acting a little odd on the way home too." Nikoru looked up at him, but he was looking off into the distance now, trying to pin-point everything. "She kept acting like she wanted to tell me something, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Then she'd go onto a diffrent topic..." He looked down, shrugging after a moment, "I know she's got something on her mind, Onee-san does the topic switch thing alot when she's really focused on something and doesn't want to hurt someone's feelings about it. I just was never any good at pushing it out of her. That was always Sasuke's job." Nikoru smiled at how easily the title flowed off his tongue, as if she really were his big sister.

"I'll talk to her, you don't worry too much about it, Naruto-kun. Just spending time with you will have made it alot better for her I'm sure. It always does." He looked up at her and grinned, nodding and holding his bottle up to her in a small salute.

"Well, thanks for the water, Nikoru-chan. I'm gonna go though, I wanna get home and shower...plus Hotaru-chan made me a bento earlier that I'm dying to eat." She laughed and got up, walking over to the genkan with him, hugging him tightly before he opened the door to leave.

"You make sure to come back any time, okay? You know we love having you over." She giggled and he did too, nodding that he would before turning and walking out, shutting the door quietly again. She smiled for a moment, his little visits always making her day seem brighter, then turned back to the house. All the dogs were staring at her from their odd little spots in the house, watching her every move.

Suddenly she wasn't as lighthearted as she was ten seconds ago. A bit of worry and anxiousness crept back into her soul at the sight of them, but she kept smiling. "Well, that was pleasant." She sighed lightly, pushing bangs out of her eyes before walking back over to her spot on the couch and settling down again, trying to avoid the foreboding stares she was getting for some reason.


	32. Murmured Plots

"Murmured Plots"

Hotaru rolled over and bumped into something furry. She frowned in her sleep, shaking her head slowly before opening her eyes to the dim darkness of the bedroom. She moaned quietly, not understanding how she could be in her bedroom when the last thing she really remembered was being out in the training field with Naruto. Something stepped lightly on her chest, making her lift her head up to come face-to-face with a tiny black nose. She smiled, laughing quietly and dropping her head back as Zetsu pushed forward, licking at her throat and chin excitedly. "Hmmm, good morning to you too, little dude." She rubbed his fur on either side of his body, causing him to yip excitedly as he got ready to play and bounced all over her chest in a slightly painful way.

"Did you stay with me while I slept? Huh?" She sat up some, knocking him down to her lap and looking around again. Her gloves were on her nightstand and her shoes were on the floor by the bed, she was in her dirty clothes and still had dried dirt and sweat all over her; explained why Zetsu was licking her so fervently.

Her hand bumped into something furry again, making her frown one more time as she looked down at her side. The black puppy looked up at her with those bloodshot eyes and that serious face. She sighed, muffing the top of his head and shaking her own, looking away from him tiredly. "Yeah, I know why you're in here. Don't worry, he's none the wiser, so you can back off." She pushed him away lightly, as though she did it accidentally, and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She rose to a stand, tucking Zetsu against her chest and starting out of the room. Itachi watched her go, feeling a strange twang of ache that she seemed to want nothing to do with him.

Nikoru looked up with a smile as Hotaru walked out into the living room. "Well, well, look who came to join the living!" She giggled as Hotaru gave her a half smile, brushing a hand through her hair and walking over to her.

"Yeah...pity too...now I'm not going to sleep tonight." She sighed tiredly, sitting heavily beside her friend and letting go of Zetsu, allowing him to bounce between the two of them excitedly and start rough housing with Tobi.

"Nah, you'll be fine. Eat something and take a bath and you'll be ready to lay down again. You only slept for two hours or so." Nikoru reached up and stroked some of Hotaru's messy hair, her fingers catching in the scratchy tangles and knots. "And you REALLY need a bath, you look pretty rough, babe." Hotaru laughed out loud at that one, so did Nikoru.

"He pushed me pretty hard today, believe it or not. You know I always try and go easy on him, but he's actually getting me to where I'm having to fight him all out like I do Kiba." Hotaru dropped her head back on the couch and pushed her hands over her eyes, her whole body aching from the excursions of the day. Nikoru got up, beginning to rummage around for something for her to eat, considering they had already eaten.

"Well, do you think he's doing it because he knows you go easy on him or do you think he's getting stronger?" Nikoru had always known Naruto was strong, but she guessed she had always been of the same mind as Hotaru, that he wasn't as strong as some.

"Honestly, I know he's stronger. I've known his potential for power for a long time. I mean, look at how strong Gaara was when he was just a child, when he hit chunin age he was a legend for his strength; all because he harnessed his biju's power. But, Naruto never gave into that power...he always used his own...and even then he was strong...Now look at him." She stopped, a bit distracted by the thought of Naruto becoming stronger, a bit scared.

"It's not like it's hurting him. I mean, it's just the kyuubi." They didn't notice the puppies listening to them.

"Yeah, but ever since it's become a basic part of his arsenal it's like...when he's fighting...the kyuubi is right there below the surface. When I was fighting him today I could see the animal in him. You can see it in his eyes...hear it in his voice...especially when he's really into what he's doing. Nikoru, I don't want that thing taking over him. I don't want it to control him like it did Gaara." She stood up, walking over to Nikoru and looking down at the stove. She was scrambling her some eggs; a quick fix that she couldn't mess up.

Hotaru sighed and sprinkled more cheese into the eggs, putting more salt into them too. "You'll give yourself a heart attack like that." Nikoru chided her and brushed her aside, knowing she was only doing it to distract herself from the topic at hand. She was so terrified of losing the few friends she had garnered in her life, so scared of losing the people that meant anything to her; all because everyone she had ever cared about before seemed to abandon her for their own selfish reasons.

"I don't think you have to worry anything. I mean, Naruto's a very strong willed boy, he's not easily persuaded by anything. If he sets his mind to something it's going to happen or it's not going to happen, there is no changing his mind; you know that." Hotaru nodded slowly, jumping up and sitting on the counter next to her.

"Yeah...Then again, all the Kyuubi has to do is offer him ramen and he'll give in." They laughed together, Nikoru plating the food and handing it to Hotaru with some chopsticks.

"Just don't worry about it. Look at it as him getting stronger and be thankful that you won't have to worry about him so much anymore." Nikoru patted her shoulder as she tucked in, nodding again and smiling once more.

"Thanks, babe. These are great, by the way." They giggled, starting to talk about other, more meaningless things as the puppies set to talking amongst themselves.

'She knows two of them...and the one continues to visit the house. This should be easier than we thought.' Kisame smiled as he looked to Itachi for acknowledgment or praise on his comment. Itachi watched the others disinterestedly, whether he was thinking on what had been said or was just bored was unknown to any of them.

'Well, I think the next time that perky little brat comes in here we should just take him and fucking leave.' Hidan snorted, but Kakuzu shook his head, as though disgusted with the idea.

'Baka.' He bit Hidan's ear particularly hard, since he couldn't hit him like this.

'What? What the hell's your problem, geezer?' Hidan ripped away with a soft, annoyed whine, then growled at him quietly as he rubbed at his aching ear.

'It's the nine tails. We're not going to be able to just waltz away with that one, it's the strongest of all of them.' Kakuzu snorted this like it was the most obvious thing ever.

'And the girl will protect that one...She cares too fiercly for the brat to just let him go.' Sasori commented offhandedly, watching Tobi tackle Deidara with disinterested eyes of his own.

'Sempai could take her! Sempai could blow her up while we eat the kyuubi-uubi-uubi-uu!' Tobi barked playfully, biting at Deidara's tail and dragging him across the floor a little, shaking his head violently, causing Deidara to whine. After a moment the blonde dog got sick of being drug around and made to look like a fool and began to snarl.

'Let go of my fucking tail, baka!' Deidara turned around and bit the top of Tobi's head viciously, both starting to fight nastily; Tobi just a bit too eager to fit in and play. Sasori shook his head, then looked up at Itachi on the couch.

'The fool has a point. One of us could take the girls out while the others take the Kyuubi to where we need it.' Itachi shook his head though, lifting it off his paws.

'No, some of us have grown bonds with these girls that would get in the way.' He said no names, but glanced here and there where it was needed. Hidan ignored the looks and Zetsu was ignoring them all completely, playing near the girl's feet and making them giggle. Whether he was trying to be a distraction so they could talk uninterrupted or he was just ignoring them was unclear.

Kisame shook his head and pawed at Itachi's feet with his own, 'No, no, Itachi. We could still do our jobs.' Kisame leered over at the girls as he said this, baring his teeth, 'We'd just do it with a little bit of love.' Itachi gave a soft laugh, looking away and putting his head down on his paws once more.

'We'll just wait for now. No one has permission to move in on the Kyuubi or the other if it comes in. No one has permission to harm the girls to get to the Kyuubi or other either. Leave it all be for now.' They all looked a bit disappointed, as though they had been ready for some sort of action, but they did as told and sat where they were. Itachi closed his eyes, feeling Kisame nudging his side with his big, flat nose. 'What is it, Kisame?' He groaned quietly, rolling onto his side and exposing his stomach, slowly letting one eye roll open and focus on the big blue pit looking down at him.

'Something seems to be bothering you, Itachi...what is it?' The big dog lay down behind him, nipping softly at the fur on the back of his neck, as though chewing an itch for him. Itachi shook his head, pulling away from the strange feeling and sitting up, looking down at the animal.

'Nothing, Kisame. Let it go.' He put a paw on top of the creature's square head for a moment, as if making his point, then lay down beside him again and closed his eyes, trying to let oblivion take him. Sometimes sleep was a blessing, sometimes it was a curse, depended on how the gods felt for the night.

After a moment he felt the big dog roll over and nudge him into its side, like he was protecting him and getting him warm. He sighed and got ready to get up, but Kisame put his head on his back, giving a deep sigh of comfort and relaxation. He groaned and dropped his head back down instead of moving, figuring he'd let the dumb animal have his moment. For some reason he always seemed intent on protecting him in this form, like Itachi was one of his pups or something. To an extent it bothered him and on some level...it didn't.


	33. Breathing Room

"Breathing Room"

When Hotaru got done eating she put her dishes in the sink and grabbed her pajamas out of the bedroom. "Nikoru-chan, I'm going to go take a shower. I feel SO gross." She smiled as Nikoru giggled and nodded her head, not looking up from the comic she was reading.

"Kay, just save me some hot water cause I may come join you in a minute." She looked up and smiled, pushing bangs out of her eyes that had fallen out of her barrettes. Hotaru nodded distractedly, looking at her feet where Zetsu was bouncing and following her every step.

"What are you doing, Zetsu? You can't come in there with me." He froze and looked up at her, his eyes huge and hurt, almost like she had stepped on his soul. She smiled lightly, kneeling down and ruffing his fur on either side of his body, making him bark happily and try to bite at her hands. "You'll be fine out here for a moment, silly. Go eat Itachi or something." She glanced up, Itachi lifting his head from his paws to look at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, Zetsu turned and staring at him with an open mouth, his tongue lolling over his fangs as he panted and looked like he was debating whether or not to do what she said. She rose to her feet, "Nikoru, can you keep Zetsu company? He seems lonely for some reason." Nikoru looked up, seeming a bit confused, but nodding.

Nikoru smiled and leaned around the coffee table, "C'mere, Zetsu! Let's you and me play!" She clapped her hands and beamed, motioning him over vigorously. He rolled onto his side and looked at her with those same perked up ears, but remained near Hotaru's feet. Hotaru shook her head and let Nikoru continue calling out to him as she herself shuffled off towards the bathroom. Just as she opened the shower door Zetsu scrambled up and bolted across the room, jumping inside the shower before she could stop him.

He spun around, his little butt skidding into the back wall before he yipped excitedly and looked up at her with begging yellow eyes. Hotaru glanced over her shoulder at Nikoru, but she shrugged and brushed it off with a smile, going back to her comic and petting Kisame at her side. He had his head resting on the coffee table next to her book and was looking at it with her, his tail thumping against the floor loudly as she scratched behind his ear and down his spine. Hotaru sighed and looked back to Zetsu, "Fine...pervert." She giggled as she said it though, stepping inside and shutting the door behind herself.

Hotaru tugged her tank top over her head, dropping it to the floor by her feet as she unhooked her bra and let it fall too. Zetsu jumped into her clothing as it piled up, sniffing loudly and burrowing into her sleeves and pant legs, his tail wagging wildly behind his little body. She laughed softly, kneeling and picking him up, kissing the tip of his nose before scooping up all of the clothes and turning, opening the door and tossing them out, quickly shutting the door on the others before they could see anything. She turned back around with a smile on her face still, gathering her hair up and pulling it into a quick ponytail so she could wash herself.

She walked over to the shower and turned it on, letting the water heat up as she stood on the side of the tub and forced the window open. Cool air hit her in the face and she shivered, quickly backing up and stepping under the shower head, wrapping her arms around herself as she let the warmth engulf her. Zetsu splashed in the puddle quickly forming at her feet, barking and nipping at her toes as she wiggled them for him. She giggled softly, smoothing her hair back on her head and looking down at him with a gentle smile. "I guess you like that form, huh?" He looked up at her, his ears pulled up and head cocked to the side quizzically.

She giggled again, turning and grabbing the little pink stool that sat in the corner. She pulled it beneath the shower's stream and sat down on it, letting Zetsu jump up between her legs, a little paw on either of her thighs. "You just seem happier and more playful in this form. Almost like you're a real puppy." She rubbed either side of his face, bending down and put her nose to the tip of his with a smile, his tail wagging so hard his entire body was moving. She paused and he did too, staring into her eyes as she stared into his. She tended to focus on his pupil-less left eye more than his softer right one, but he was never sure why.

"You don't have to stay in this form, you know? You don't scare me when you're yourself." He blinked, a stillness having come over his body that was common to his human form. She kissed the tip of his nose and sat up, releasing him to grab her shampoo and scrubby like she had done nothing out of the ordinary. He sat and watched her wash now. Watched her tune out him and the rest of the world for happier times as she ran the scrubby over her body, leaving soapy trails behind. He wondered why she mentioned that to him. He wasn't staying like this for her sake. Was he?

"Light up...light up...as if you ha-ve a choice...Even if you cannot he-ar, my voice...I'll be right beside you, dear. Louder, louder...and we'll run fo-r our lives...I can hardly speak, I under-stand...why you can't waste your voice to say..." Hotaru sang the melancholy tune softly as she scrubbed at Zetsu, soaping behind his ears gently while he looked out of the window, not seeming to pay her any mind. "Have hope...my, dear...Do not be af-raid...even if it's just for a- few days..." His ears pulled back as her voice washed over him as easily as the soapy water did. He could feel the sadness in her every touch as she sang the song, even if she had a small smile on her face and in her eyes.

She started to wash down his back, then gently nudged him in the side, making him lay down and roll over for her. She stopped humming long enough to giggle and tickle him before starting to wash once again. "Light up...light up...as if you ha-ve a choice...Even if you cannot he-ar, my voice...I'll be right beside you, dear..." He rolled his head back and looked up at the open window, able to feel the breeze and smell different scents on it. One was getting closer and closer and it was making him tense, because it smelt like a human. Hotaru got quiet for a second, putting her scrubby and soap down to pick him up and sit him on her lap, shielding his eyes with her hand as she rubbed the water through his fur.

"Louder, louder...and we'll run fo-r our lives...I can hardly speak, I under-stand...why you can't waste your voice to say...my dear..." Her voice rang loud for a moment, echoing off the walls beautifully before softening to almost a whisper, almost drowned out by the hiss of the water above them. Someone was scratching around on the frozen ground outside, making it to where he couldn't relax beneath her massaging fingers. His ears perked up and he took a step forward on her legs, standing up and giving an alert yip as he stared at the window, making her pause and look up too. "What is it?" She frowned a little, her hands paused on either side of him again.

"He-y, Hotaru-cha-n!" She cried out as Naruto's face popped through the tiny opening and his voice rang throughout the bathroom. She jumped, falling backwards off her stool and sending Zetsu scrambling to the wet tiles. Naruto laughed happily as she sat up, looking at him with wide eyes and open lips. Zetsu stood against the wall, barking loudly for the others to come and help him make the boy go away, that he was scaring the girl.

"Naruto-kun! You scared the hell out of me!" Hotaru cried out again, hitting the floor with her palm and splashing water as he laughed again.

"Neh, neh! I heard you singing, Onee-san! You sounded wonderful! I had to stop and listen. You know I love your song." He beamed at her and she giggled, smoothing wet hair back off her forehead again. He always was good at buttering her up...She often wondered who was better, him or Nikoru.

"What in the world are you doing outside in the cold again, NaruNaru? You're going to get sick!" She stood up and walked over, swatting at his face, but her fingertips only brushed his chin and cheek as he giggled at her.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you, Onee-san? You're the one bathing with the window open!" He laughed again and she shook her head.

"I have the heat of the bath, I'll be fine. Now you go and get Nikoru to let you in the front door before you get sick!" He giggled, but nodded and ducked his head out of the window as told.

"Onee-san should shut the window before some pervert sees her!" She heard him call out and she blushed, wondering how many of her neighbors had heard that.


	34. One More Time

"One More Time"

Hotaru climbed up on the tub and jerked the window shut, almost slipping and falling again. She shut off the water and dried herself off, hearing Nikoru fussing at the dogs as they barked and Naruto laughed. She quickly pulled on some panties and tugged an over sized T-shirt over her head, then wrapped the towel around her wet hair. She opened the shower door, the steam rolling out across the floor as all the dogs turned to look at her, Zetsu bounding out and running across the room to sniff Naruto.

"Naruto!" He started to turn, but she ran and jumped on his back before he could. Nikoru almost fell over laughing at the sight of Hotaru clinging onto Naruto's back, hitting at him playfully and fussing at him while he whined and spun in a circle in effort to get her off, reaching up to try and ward off her blows. "That's for scaring me so badly! I could've really hurt myself falling like you made me do, you know?" He laughed and nodded, wrapping his arms around his head and ducking to keep her from hitting it again.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just kidding!" She squeezed his neck before sliding off his back, walking over to Nikoru and folding her arms over her chest as he rubbed the top of his head and winced at her.

"What in the world did he do, Hotaru-chan?" Nikoru giggled and touched Hotaru's arm lightly, making her look at her with a small shake of her head.

"I had the window open in the shower and he burst in there and scared the hell out of me! I could've died!" Nikoru laughed at Hotaru's over exaggerations and so did Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head with a small shrug. He blinked though, suddenly studying her shirt with a playful frown.

"Onee-san...isn't that MY shirt?" Hotaru blinked and looked down at herself, pulling out the hem of the shirt so she could see the design on it. Nikoru looked over too, putting her hand over her mouth and giggling as Hotaru blushed and dropped the shirt, rubbing the back of her own head now.

"No...maybe..." She looked off to the side, muttering quietly. "Yes..." He laughed and Nikoru shook her head, sighing lightly.

"Hotaru's always been a little shirt thief." Hotaru grinned at that, shrugging casually, as though she were hiding the pride Nikoru's statement had brought on.

"What can I say? It's a talent." Naruto walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, putting his cheek to her own as she hugged him back, giggling brightly.

"Come on, Naruto-kun, Hotaru'll fix you something to eat." Nikoru motioned him over to the stove and they laughed.

"I love how you volunteer ME to do it, Nikoru-chan." Hotaru giggled and Nikoru winked over her shoulder at her.

"What can I say? It's a talent." They all laughed aloud. Naruto released Hotaru soon enough though, shaking his head and holding up his hand.

"I'm not hungry though, Nikoru-chan. I just ate that bento Hotaru-chan gave me not too long ago." Nikoru turned to look at him with some surprise in her eyes.

"And you're not hungry yet? How odd..." He blushed and laughed softly, looking at his feet.

"I actually just came over to check on y'all. I felt bad for leaving Hotaru such a mess and leaving you to take care of her, Nikoru-chan." She smiled softly and Hotaru muffed his hair lightly, grinning again.

"That's my NaruNaru, I raised you so well." She giggled and he grinned.

"But, you're fine, Naruto-kun. She had just gotten up and running when you decided to pop by." Nikoru giggled and walked back over to the couch, sitting on it and closing her book as Tobi jumped up into her lap, licking at her face as she giggled and pet him playfully.

"You wanna stay for a while, NaruNaru? I'd feel bad for sending you out in the cold again after such a short visit." He shook his head though, beaming.

"I actually was on my way to Shikamaru's when I decided to drop in, so I probably need to go." They nodded lightly and smiled, Hotaru hugging him once more.

"Fine...but I'm giving you a scarf. There's frost on the ground, you need to cover up your face and ears." She walked him over to the closet and pulled out one of her scarves, examining it before handing it over to him. He laughed and Nikoru giggled, shaking her head.

"Hotaru-chan, don't give him your purple one! Give him your blue one, at least!" Hotaru looked at her in some surprise, still holding the wide and long piece of material.

"What? This is one of the biggest ones I have! I need to make sure he has enough to cover himself." She huffed and stepped up out of the genkan to wrap it around him.

"Hotaru! He'll get made fun of for wearing that one! Pick another, manlier color!" Nikoru hit the couch, still grinning, and Hotaru huffed and turned back to the closet.

"Fine, he can wear the blue one. C'mere, Naru-kun." Hotaru shook her head as Naruto laughed softly, bending down for her to wrap the new scarf around his neck and pull it up over his nose and ears. "There...you punch Shika or his dad if they give you a hard time about it too." He grinned and hugged her, pulling the soft yarn down long enough to kiss her cheek. He walked over and hugged Nikoru, then walked back to the door and pulled the scarf up over his nose again.

"Bye, y'all! I'll talk to you tomorrow!" He grinned and waved, walking out and letting Hotaru shut the door behind him. She shook her head, sighing lightly before locking the door and going over to Nikoru, sitting heavily on the couch beside her, shoving Tobi out of the way to do so.

"What do you think he's going to Shika's this late for?" Nikoru leaned over her and grabbed her comic book, sitting back and crossing her legs in front of herself, opening the book on her lap. Only for Tobi to crawl across it to whimper and beg for her attention. She laughed and started to play with him, ruffing his fur up on either side of his face or body, like Hotaru liked to do to Zetsu.

"I have no idea. Maybe they're doing a mission early in the morning and he's spending the night." Hotaru shrugged, dropping her head against Nikoru's bony shoulder and sighing as Tobi bounced on her now, licking at her face and nipping softly at her nose before she pushed him away. Zetsu jumped up on the couch and crawled over her legs, falling between their laps before climbing up onto Nikoru's lap to bite at Tobi until he left Hotaru alone and started to play with him. The girls sighed, Nikoru putting her head lightly against the top of Hotaru's, watching the two puppies play together.

"You'd think they actually were puppies." Nikoru giggled and Hotaru nodded slowly with a smile.


	35. The Honest Douche Bag Kakuzu

_~~**~~And this was another sad attempt on my part at humor, of course, I have to say, I feel it came out alot better than some of my last attempts in "Akatsuki House of OC"...But, there's another time gap when this one starts. The best I can tell you is it's a good few days after the little bickering match and high tensions between the girls and the boys. Everyone's come quiet use to hanging out together and being together and they're all actually starting to sort've enjoy being around each other. Rather like a dysfunctional family. Hotaru just has a smart mouth and it gets alot smarter when she's been hanging around Kiba lol~~**~~_

"The Honest Douche Bag Kakuzu"

"It took everything you had...but you finally broke my..." Hotaru trailed her song off, sighing lightly as she came towards the front door and shifted the large bag in her hand to rest on her hip so she could pull out her key. She unlocked the door, listening to the barking and scratching being done on the other side of it as she did, with a smile. "Alright, alright, back up, back up. I can't do anything if y'all just stand here barking and blocking the way." She stuck her foot in the small crack she made in the door, shoving and kicking the dogs back so she could slowly worm her way in and shut the door quickly behind herself.

Kisame jumped against her, slamming her back into the door and almost knocking the bag from her hand. She laughed and coughed, holding the bag in the air so they couldn't rip into the bottom of it. "Listen, back off or it'll be dog food tonight instead of people food!" Though she said it with a grin, for the most part, they backed off. She gave a small sigh and pulled off her shoes, then stepped up into the house and began to unload the groceries onto the counter.

They were having to make a good many more trips now that they had eight other mouths to feed; especially with as big as those mouths were. Everyone went about their business for a while, doing their own little things happily enough, the house quiet, yet teaming with life. Hotaru took up singing again, humming the higher notes, so she didn't get on anyone's nerves, and singing softly to herself the rest of the way.

She was bent over and organizing the small fridge when she realized someone was watching her. Slowly she looked down and saw Kakuzu sitting next to her thigh, staring blankly at her. She glanced around for a moment, sitting a bottle of Pocari Sweat on the floor between her legs, then glanced back at him. He failed to move, just continued to stare. After a moment she lifted the bottle and went back to doing what she was doing in the fridge, figuring if she ignored him he would leave her be. He reached out and pawed her foot halfheartedly, still staring with empty, unblinking eyes.

Hotaru closed her own eyes and took in a breath. "Can I help you?" She turned to face him again, the tip of his tail giving the smallest of wags and his ears perking a bit farther forward. She lifted her brows, "I take that as a yes. What can I do for you, big man?" She draped her hands over her knees and he snorted at her mocking nick name, making her half smirk. "Well, would you like to continue this face-to-face, man-to-man? 'Cause you're creepin' me out right now, I gotta be honest with you." He nodded, morphing mid motion.

"Yes, you can do something for me. I need you to tell me how to accomplish something." Hotaru looked up at him as he stared down at her, suddenly looking alot more menacing and alot more frightening.

"You are REALLY tall from down here..." She muttered, half to herself, half to him. He let out a quiet sigh behind his cloth mask, bowing his head to pinch the scrunched flesh of the bridge of his nose.

"Focus, little girl." She looked away from him with a quietly indignant look on her face, slamming the fridge shut and getting up, starting to walk away. He followed her to the counter, where she had dried goods sitting out and waiting to be put up. "I need you to tell me how to break some news to Nikoru-chan." Hotaru had her back turned to him now, standing on her tip-toes to put something up on a higher shelf.

"What do you need to break to her? You pregnant?" She snickered at her own, small, joke, but he failed to do anything rather than watch her. After another moment of awkward silence and staring she turned back to him and put her hand on her hip, huffing lightly while pushing hair over her shoulder. "Fine, fine, be a fun-sucker. Just be honest with her." He waited for more, but she shrugged. "That's all you have to do. Be honest and don't make her cry. Now go away, you're bothering me." She turned back to the counter, waving him off dismissively and fighting back the shiver trying to run down her spine because of his eyes boring holes into the back of her head.

"There is no way to NOT make her cry." Well, at least he was being honest with her. She turned back around, tugging a dollar bill out of her shirt front and tossing it at him.

"That twenty is yours if you don't make her cry." He picked the money up off the floor and she could almost see the smile she knew was hidden behind that cloth. All he did was turn around and walk away, becoming a dog again as he did, trotting along with the dollar bill in his mouth happily. She shook her head, turned back around, and went back to what she was doing, thinking he was one of the creepiest of them.

He didn't have to look creepy, though he kind of did with that weird head gear going on, he just acted creepier than the rest of them. He barely spoke and he liked to watch things. Just sit and watch them unfold before him. She felt like she was on a stage with him around. It made her feel weird on so many different levels.

Nikoru came into the house some time later, beaming as she shut the door behind Hidan. The silver dog shook itself off, snorting out cold air and taking in some warmth. She giggled, putting her coat into the closet and tugging off her boots as the dog jumped up into the house and trotted off without a second glance her way. Hotaru looked up from the couch, smiling at Nikoru's bright expression. "What's up, babe? Where'd you and Hidan go?" Nikoru brushed bangs out of her eyes, walking over to her and flopping into the chair with a sigh.

"Oh, no where in particular. Just around the corner or so." She beamed at Hotaru, who rolled her eyes a bit as she realized Nikoru had lied to her earlier when she had claimed to be taking Hidan to see the park.

"I should've guessed. You know, lying is a very ugly color on you." Hotaru looked back down at her book, frowning a bit as she ran her fingers through Zetsu's fuzzy fur. He was sleeping pressed up against her thigh, each of them sharing and recycling each other's warmth.

"Oh come on, Hotaru-chan! You knew that's what we were going to do! You act so surprised!" Nikoru sat up and giggled again, dismissively waving Hotaru's comment about lying off. "We could've just stayed here, you know?" Hotaru cut her eyes at the blonde, but said nothing, only pressing her lips into a thin line of distaste at the images now running through her head. She looked back to the book spread out over her lap, desperately trying to quell her overacting imagination. "Now, what did you do while we were gone?" Nikoru came to her rescue instead, changing the subject while cradling her chin in her hand, leaning against her knee and waiting patiently for Hotaru to answer her.

"Went to the market, stopped to say hey to Shika-baby." Hotaru muttered dully making Nikoru huff in annoyance. Before she could do much more though she became aware of a very tall, very ominous presence looming over her. Slowly she blinked and looked up, seeing Kakuzu staring down at her with those sick looking eyes of his.

"Y-yes, Kakuzu-san?" She laughed a little nervously, shrinking a bit in his shadow. He waited a moment before responding, aware that Hotaru's eyes had lifted from her book, once more, to subtly watch him.

"I have news to break to you." Nikoru blinked in some confusion, but waited for him to go on. "It's about you and Hidan." She lifted a brow in some surprise.

"What's up?" She pushed hair out of her eyes again, seeming just a little more casual at the mention of her new found "friendship" with his partner.

"He doesn't love you." Nikoru blinked for a moment, her lips parting a bit in some sort of shock. Hotaru threw a hand up and rolled her eyes.

"Way to break it to her, Kakuzu. You ass, you're supposed to ease into things like that!" He looked to Hotaru, who was gesturing to the still mute Nikoru and glaring at him. He looked back down at Nikoru, then shrugged.

"I have no need for such etiquette. You merely need to know he doesn't love you. He's just fucking you to keep himself entertained while imprisoned here." Hotaru slapped her hand against her book, making him look to her one more time as she shot up on the couch, holding out her hand to him now.

"You know what, I gave you that twenty so you wouldn't be an ass to her! If you're gonna treat her like that then gimme my fucking money back!" He smiled behind his mask, something that reached all the way up to his infected looking eyes.

"I don't DO refunds." Hotaru opened her mouth and got ready to say something when Nikoru laughed. They both turned to look at her, seeing her holding her mouth in effort to suppress her giggles, her other hand clasped against her stomach. After a moment she beamed up at Kakuzu, shaking her head calmly and waving him off as well.

"No worries, Kakuzu-san, I already knew that! He didn't exactly have to tell me for me to catch on." Kakuzu nodded curtly, then turned to Hotaru, who had sunk back into the couch with a huff.

"Don't look at me like that! I still think I should get my fucking twenty back." She grumbled, putting her book up on her chest and covering her sulky face from him. Nikoru smiled between the two of them.

"Aw, Hotaru-chan, I don't think he should have to give the money back. I mean, he was a little blunt about it, but it still is amazing to me that he even bothered to try and spare my feelings by telling me something like that. He could've just let me get my heart broken when the time came." Kakuzu nodded once more, both of them looking at Hotaru, who slowly let her book down.

"Yeah...Hidan's the kinda douche to do that sort've thing, isn't he?" Nikoru nodded, watching Zetsu give a lazy yawn and stretch a foot out, letting it quiver with the effort before dropping back to the sofa. He rolled onto his side, lifting a paw to let Hotaru scratch at his round little belly as she thought quietly. Hotaru smiled up at Kakuzu suddenly, "Well, you're a douche bag, Kakuzu, but at least you're an honest one." The girls giggled together as he regarded them with the same set expression. After a moment he nodded in satisfaction and turned from them. Hotaru even thought she saw a smile glimmering in his eyes.

"Thank you. I do try." They laughed even harder at this, watching him morph into a dog again and pad into the bedroom to jump on Nikoru's bed next to the already sleeping Hidan. He pawed at the top of Hidan's head, biting softly and tugging at his ear before looking up at the girls, as if saying, "He's a douche, but he is MY douche." They smiled and nodded, turning back to each other and beginning to talk as Hidan rolled onto his side and Kakuzu curled up into him, one paw draped over the silver dog's broad back tiredly.

_~~**~~And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all she wrote. I do hope you enjoyed this little scribble and hope it didn't take up too much of your time if you decided to wade through this crap XD Thankyou for reading!~~**~~ -The End_


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